Dragonborn Thunder
by Blackenergy666
Summary: Odin intended to cast Thor to Midgard, so that the humans there would teach him humility, and he was once again be the God of Thunder, however Yggdrasil holds the 9 realms yes, but it also has many branches, when Odin cast Thor out, it was not as a mortal with all his memories, it was as a demi-Asgardian named Tor Bretson, now Join the God of Thunder on his Quest Through Tamriel
1. Chapter 1 Prologue

"Why did you bring us back?" Thor roared at his father.

The blond male stood at 6'2 with a broad shoulders, and a powerful build. He was a truly intimidating figure, but not for the man he was arguing with. This was Thor: God of Thunder.

"Do you realize what you've done? What you've started?" the elder God retorted, clearly angry and disappointed with the younger God. This man stood at 5'9 with a build that showed his resemblance to the younger male and though shorter it was impossible to miss the power he radiated. This was Odin, father of Thor and King of Asgard.

"I was protecting my home!" the Asgardian Prince snapped.

"You cannot protect your friends. How can you hope to protect a kingdom?" Odin then turned to the others, while throwing the Bifrost Sword to its keeper, his temper still burned though.

"Get him to the healing room! Hurry!" one of the soldiers Thor has spirited to Joutenhiem had been injured and needed medical assistance. The other four quickly left, no one wanted to be in the room when Odin or Thor truly lost their temper.

"Their won't be a kingdom to protect, if you're afraid to act!" the younger God rebuked, clearly still wanting blood. "The Joutens must learn to fear me, just as they once feared you." he continued, trying to convince his father to side with him.

"That's pride and vanity that talks! Not leadership! Have you forgotten everything I've taught you? What of a warrior's patienc-"

"While you wait and be patient, the Nine Realms laugh at us! The old ways are done. You'd stand giving speeches while Asgard falls!" Thor cut off the angry king, furious at having been denied their victory.

"You're a vain, greedy, cruel boy!"

"And you are an old man and a fool!"

The whole world seems to stop at Thor's words. Odin falls quiet, as Thor sobred, realising he had gone to far.

When the All-Father spoke again, there was something terrifying beneath the calmness of his words.

"A fool, yes, I was a fool to think you were ready."

The other man, more slender in build and adorned in dark greens and golds, stepped forward, urgency and fear on his face and in his tone "Father-"

An incoherent sound escapes the All-Fathers lips as he non-verbally warns his other son to stay away.

"Thor Odinson... You have disobeyed the express command of your King. Through your arrogance and stupidity, you have opened these peaceful Realms and innocent lives to the horrors of war." The All-Father spoke soberly as he plunges his spear Gungnir into Observatory's control panel.

The Bifrost energy building along with Odin's rage and grief. It fires, as the Bifrost opens at the end of the platform, creating a portal behind Thor. Odin turns angrily to his son.

"You are unworthy of this Realm...unworthy of your Title... ...unworthy of the loved ones you've betrayed." with each proclamation Odin ripped a piece of Thor's armor away.

"I hereby take from you your powers," Odin summoned Thor's Hammer Mjølnir from his hand as he spoke "In the name of my father and of his father before, I Odin All-Father, CAST YOU OUT" he roared at the end, shoving Thor through the portal and into the unknown.

However, Odin was weary, he was fighting the Odin-Sleep, the cost for his tremendous power, this showed. He had intended to Banish Thor to midgard as a mortal with all his memories, so that the humans there would teach him humility.

Thor's memories were suppressed, as he hurtled through space and time, arriving not in Midgard or Earth but in a world so very like it but different, and not as a Man, but as a child. Odin's weariness had caused him to forget that Yggdrasil had many branches.

The infant Thor landed not in Midgard, but in Tamriel. The child of a Nord and a Breton, as he was reborn as the new child. He was Thor Odinson no longer, he was now Tor Bretson a powerful Nord with incredible Strength and Magic.

* * *

Tor lived an ordinary childhood, he played with the other children in his village, he learned the arts of combat from his parents as well as the art of Hunting. He studied under a black smith to learn the art of smithing.

He also learned enchanting at the foot of the village enchanter. His Breton blood showed through here, he grasped the magics of enchanting easily, his own weapons; a Steel Club Hammer called - Leggja and a Steel Axe - Skera.

Both weapons wielded the power of Thunder and struck with massive force. Not that Tor needed a weapon to bolster his strength, he was able to lift a fully grown bear above his head after all.

Tor grew up as an Enchanter and Hunter, possessing great skill with Hammers, Maces and Axes. His great Strength and Magic allowed him to hunt Bears and Tigers instead of typical game.

Of course every Hunter wanted Tor to train them, every Enchanter wanted Tor to mentor them, many traveled to his home to do so, and when the land of skyrim was plunged into war, his home remained neutral.

One morning, Tor awoke to a thundering headache, one that would not be soothed no matter what he did. He still needed to hunt, to make sure he had food for the evening and the morrow's breakfast, so with gritted teeth he set out to hunt.

The pounding in his head grew worse and more painful throughout the day, as he tried to hunt. He followed a bear to it's cave or tried to. His vision was obscured by the pain, he could not see or hear.

In this pain caused blindness he lost sight of the tracks and by chance or fate, stumbled into the Darkwater Crossing, he collapsed as the ambush concluded, and was rounded up as a part of the captured stormcloaks.

Tor's mind was filled with Images he could not desciper, of places he had never been but felt familiar, of people he had never met but knew. And then of a hammer, one that called to him, one that waited for his hand.

He groaned as he came to, someone on his left spoke "Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."


	2. Chapter 2 Unbound & Riverwood

He groaned as he came to, someone on his left spoke. "Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."

Tor grunted, too dazed to respond, his vision was still blurry from the pain, he could hear everything, and it only made it worse for him. They were moving, on a carriage by the looks of it.

The one who had spoken before continued, "I am Ralof Riverson" He introduced himself. Tor could vaguely recognize a fellow Nord, the signature blond hair and blue eyes, with a build similar to his own.

"Damn you Stormcloaks. Skyrim was fine until you came along. Empire was nice and lazy. If they hadn't been looking for you, I could've stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell. You there... You and me, we shouldn't be here. It's these Stormcloaks the Empire wants." The thief spoke, his voice full of ironic contempt and anger.

"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now, thief." Ralof spoke, his voice somber. He had made peace with his fate, a fate he knew was coming soon.

"Shut up back there!" The driver of the cart spoke, Tor was able to make out Imperial Armour, an Imperial Soldier.

"And what's wrong with him, huh?" The thief mocked the fourth occupant of the carriage, another nord, one adorned in finer armour and equipment than either of them, though he was also gagged.

"Watch your tongue. You're speaking to Ulfric Stormcloak, the true High King." Ralof exclaimed, showing an emotion other than quite acceptance for the first time. The thief reacted to his indignation with fear.

"Ulfric? The Jarl of Windhelm? You're the leader of the rebellion. But if they've captured you... Oh gods, where are they taking us?" The thief trembled, his fear was palpable, and understood.

"I don't know where we're going, but Sovngarde awaits." Ralof spoke with empathy and kindness, he had made peace with this, he was hoping to help the thief do the same.

"No, this can't be happening. This isn't happening." The thief whimpered, terror filling his being.

"Hey, what village are you from, horse thief?" The stormcloak questioned, compassion in his voice.

"Why do you care?" The thief spat.

"A Nord's last thoughts should be of home." Came the soft reply.

"Rorikstead. I'm... I'm from Rorikstead."

Tor was not able to contribute for the pain was too much, but he was able to understand, and he bowed his head, a sign of shared camaraderie.

"General Tullius, sir! The headsman is waiting!" An Imperial soldier spoke disrupting the companionship moment.

"Good. Let's get this over with." The general spoke, contempt balant in his voice.

"Shor, Mara, Dibella, Kynareth, Akatosh. Divines, please help me." The thief prayed.

"Look at him, General Tullius, the Military Governor. And it looks like the Thalmor are with him. Damn elves. I bet they had something to do with this." He snarled, clearly he was angry at the at the opposing forces.

"This is Helgen. I used to be sweet on a girl from here. Wonder if Vilod is still making that mead with juniper berries mixed in. Funny, when I was a boy, Imperial walls and towers used to make me feel so safe." He continued now reminiscing about his former life.

"Get these prisoners out of the carts. Move it!" A more armored person commanded.

"Why are we stopping?" Came the nervous question of the Thief

"Why do you think? End of the line. Let's go. Shouldn't keep the gods waiting for us." The nord calmly replied.

"No! Wait! We're not rebels!" Panic spread throughout the thief.

"Face your death with some courage, thief."

"You've got to tell them! We weren't with you! This is a mistake!"

"Step towards the block when we call your name. One at a time." The more armoured imperial commanded impatiently.

Tor and the others all got off the carriage, each one dropping with a slight grunt.

"Empire loves their damn lists." Grunted Ralof in iritiation.

A man dressed in imperial light armour began to read the aforementioned list;

"Ulfric Stormcloak. Jarl of Windhelm." He called

"It has been an honor, Jarl Ulfric!" Came the voice of Ralof, a final salute for his commander and brother in arms.

"Ralof of Riverwood. Lokir of Rorikstead." Came the man's voice again.

"No, I'm not a rebel. You can't do this!" The newly named thief panicked, then ran for it.

"Halt!" The heavily armoured imperial commanded, angered at the audacity of the thief.

"You're not going to kill me!" Came the declaration of Lokir, as he continued running.

With a call of "Archers!" From the heavily armoured imperial, Tor saw Two Imperial Legionnaires pull out their bows and notch their Steel Arrows, Lokir was dead before he even made it 10 steps away.

The heavily armoured imperial was swift to return her attention back to the other prisoners.

"Anyone else feel like running?" She dared, confident her display would prevent the Prisoners from running now that one of their own had been killed.

"Wait. You there. Step forward. Who are you?" The list caller addressed Tor, having an abnormality.

"I am Tor Bretson, and to My knoweldge I have committed no Crime" He was able to choke out, the pain still to intense for much else.

"The famous huntsmen and enchanter? Captain. What should we do? He's not on the list."

"Forget the list. He has harboured the stormcloaks from time to time, he goes to the block." The captain spat, and Tor now recognized her as one he had previously bested, his home was neutral territory for this war and he personally dealt with those who would disrupt it.

"By your orders, Captain. Follow the Captain, prisoner." The other man said somberly, Tor was widely regarded as a pillar of support for the citizens of Skyrim, he always had a bed and warm food for those in need.

Following the captain a few steps Tor took notice of the general confronting Ulfric, clearly pleased at the turn of events.

"Ulfric Stormcloak. Some here in Helgen call you a hero. But a hero doesn't use a power like The Voice to murder his king and usurp his throne." Tullius spoke down to the captured Jarl, a position he was seemingly use to.

Ulfric could only respond with muffled grunts as he was gagged, presumably to block this 'Voice' Tullius spoke of.

"You started this war, plunged Skyrim into chaos, and now the Empire is going to put you down, and restore the peace." He continued, boastfully.

An echoing sound was then heard, something that set the hairs on the back of Tor's neck on ends. His headache worsened as something primal began to stir within him. He knew what ever happened here and now, would change his life forever.

"What was that?" The list caller asked, he like Tor knew something was about to happen.

"It's nothing. Carry on." The general dismissed, to him he had more important things to do, then worry about a strange sound.

"Yes, General Tullius." She acknowledged, then turned her head to a woman dressed in robes, a Priestess of Arkay if Tor were to say "Give them their last rites." The commander spoke.

"As we commend your souls to Aetherius, blessings of the Eight Divines upon you, for you are the salt and earth of Nirn, our beloved..." The Priestess began but was cut off by one of the stormcloak soldiers.

"For the love of Talos, shut up and let's get this over with." Came his exasperated voice, he met death defiantly.

"As you wish." The presistess said.

"Come on, I haven't got all morning. My ancestors are smiling at me, Imperials. Can you say the same?" The defiant soldier taunted.

With those last defiant words to Tullius, the Imperial Captain, and the Legionnaires, the Stormcloak is beheaded by the executioner. The Imperial Captain then shoves his lifeless body off to the side of the chopping block

"You Imperial bastards!" one the stormcloaks roared in anguish.

Calls of "Justice!" and "Death to the Stormcloaks!" Came from the gathered crowd.

"As fearless in death as he was in life." Ralof mourned his fallen comrade.

"Next, Tor Bretson!" The captain called gleefully, she was getting her vengeance on the one who had humiliated her.

"To the block, prisoner. Nice and easy." The list caller instructed.

The same echoing sound came again unnerving the list caller, but everyone else remained unfazed. As he asked the captain if she had heard the sound. She merely more firmlycalled Tor's name again.

Tor stumbled forward, groggy and in pain, unable to really raise his head, every motion caused his headache to worsen, groaning in pain he reached the block. The captain from earlier attempted to knock him down but was unable to knock him down.

She resorted to using Dhreb, 2 foot of runeically enchanted steel - he had dubbed it Drheb - smasher in a tongue he only vaguely knew, to knock him down, though for some reason his head began to clear now.

Just before the Imperial Headsman has the opportunity to decapitate Tor and end his life, a dragon as black as night appeared and disrupted the execution.

While the dragon was swooping in Tullius let out a startled, "WHAT IN OBLIVION IS THAT?" as he saw but was uncomprehending of the mighty beast that now was now perched on the imperial tower.

The commander asked the sentires what they saw as the black dragon speed into the towns space and took up roost on the tower in front of the executioner's block.

The Dragon perched on top of executioner's towers and stared menacingly down at everyone below, Tor could tell it felt no fear as it looked down at all the humans below him. Satisfied with their fear the beast lets out a mighty roar into the clouds, summoning large balls of fire to come raining down from the heavens.

The monster stared at the carnage that was occurring because of that shout and took to the skies, adding fear and terror to all those present.

As fire and death rained down upon the town, Tor could only watch in horror as the innocents of the village were killed with impunity. What's worse was the dragon seemed to take pleasure in this act.

Tor rose quickly, his head cleared as he broke the bindings on him. Locking eyes with Ralof a silent agreement was made as both men dashed towards a nearby tower, taking shelter from the fire and death outside.

"Jarl Ulfric! What is that thing? Could the legends be true?" Ralof questioned frantically, this was understandable, a Dragon had just showed up and started wreaking havoc in Helgin.

"Legends don't burn down villages." The Jarl spoke camly, showing off just how calm a head he had.

The Dragon is heard roaring outside as he continues his rampage, reminding everyone of the Danger that was still present.

"We need to move. Now!" The Jarl commanded, Tor nodded in agreement, sides could wait till they were all safe from this beast.

"Up through the tower, let's go!" Came the voice of Ralof.

"They're hurt, but they'll live. Another second out there with the dragon, and they'd both be dead..." Came the observation of one of the surviving Stormcloaks.

"Let's go! With me, up the tower!" Ralof spoke again, this time addressing Tor.

"We just need to move some of these rocks to clear the way!" Another stormcloak, this one stationed on the platform at the halfway point of the tower. Tor and Ralof sprinted up the stairs but were met with the Dragon as it smashed through the tower wall and unleashed a devastating fire breath into the tower.

"Yol, Toor, Shul" Came the deep sound of the Dragon's… Voice? The Dragon spoke? Tor was shocked, but as he turned to ask someone about it, the great beast left as quickly as it had arrived.

Shaking his confusion off, Tor following Ralof's instructions jumped from the Tower into an inn next to it. He quickly found a way to return to the ground level, where he happened on the list giver saving a child from the Dragon's fury.

Tor did not even hesitate, sprinting forward, much faster than a normal Nord could match, moving even faster than some elves, he managed to intercept the deadly flames of the dragon before they could kill the child.

Once again the dragon appeared to speak before its flames appeared, though Tor paid it no mind, he focused on survival. The flames did not hurt as much as he expected, but they were still painful nonetheless.

The list-giver escorted him through the ruins of Helgin, fire and death were everywhere, and where one was, the other was not far behind. Tor was disheartened as he saw vast amounts of dead bodies that littered the ground as he ran from cover to cover whenever the Dragon Appeared.

Meeting up with Ralof in front of the keep both Nords were quick to enter it and take shelter from the fire and death left behind in the wake of the deadly beast..

Tor stood in silence while Ralof mourned for the fallen stormcloak, this allowed him to hear the imperials approaching, the captain and another random soldier.

"BRETSON, YOU DIE NOW!" She shouted as she rushed at Tor with both of his weapons; his Mace - Dhreb and His Axe Hǫggva. As she swung the mace downwards, he caught it with his right hand, and directing it downwards smashed the handle of Dhreb into her stomach.

Tearing Dhreb from her grip, he used his left hand to redirect Hǫggva, moving it to his left and gripping it as he swung Dhreb into the commanders chin with great force. She was dead before her body hit the wall.

Hooking his elbow on the other soldiers to halt his sword swing allowing Ralof to strike his head with one of his axes. "I'll check the captain, you check the soldier?" Tor asked, a confirming nod was all he needed to sprint down the hall to the captains body.

Taking a spare set of her armour from the room next to where she landed as well as other miscellaneous things, he rejoined Ralof and passed him the key to the iron gate.

As they descended the stairs a collapsing part of the tunnel ensured they needed to enter the store room, Tor burst through the door, hurling Hǫggva in to the chest of the Imperial in the lighter armour.

Batting the heavily armoured Imperial's sword away with Dhreb he lashed out with his left hand, punching the hard enough to launch him neck first into the opposing wall and much like before he cleared out the area of useful supplies such as Potions or Weapons.

He retrieved Hǫggva before continuing on with Ralof descending into an area that enraged him and distressed Ralof. A tourte chamber, with current members. Hǫggva met the Torturers Head as Dhreb impacted his assistants body.

"Test your mettle against me, Coward!" He challenged the remaining tourterer, said imperial drew his own mace and lashed out, Tor ripped the Mace in half before grabbing and throwing the torturer against the wall.

Picking Dhreb up, Tor smashed it into the charging imperials chest, ending his life by crushing his insides and repeated the process of the last few rooms, clearing out everything of value.

Ralof spoke up "It's better to stick together down here." Tor and the other stormcloaks agreed at that, Tor knew from his hunting experience that this was almost the ideal environment for all sorts of cave/cavern dwelling nasties.

As the four man group moved into the next room, they were ambushed by a 4 man platoon of Imperial reacted quickly, turing and catching a fired arrow with his left hand, switching the arrow to his right, he threw it like a dart and killed one of the archers.

Clearing the distance to the other Archer with a massive jump, the other one was felled in a single strike of Hǫggva, the archers head cleaved from his body. Another heavily armoured imperial charged him with a sword only to be met with a brutal Mace swing that put him in a small creaTor in the rocky wall.

The final member of the imperial platoon was slain by the stormcloaks. With two of them remaining behind to watch for ulfric and other stormcloaks, Ralof and Tor progressed forward.

Progressing into the cave, another roar prevented any survivors from following the pair, following the water down they found a small alcove, one Tor could already tell was filled with Frostbitten Spiders.

"Ralof, how do you feel about spiders?" He asked his companion.

"I hate them, to many eyes you know" He spoke and Tor nodded in understanding, he had yet to meet someone who liked them.

"This path was made by them, so be on guard and check the ceiling, bastards like to drop on you from above." Tor warned, he had destroyed more than one nest of these beasts before, "Do you have a spare bow, Ralof? There's no hole for them here and we can kill a few of them before they Notice us."

"Aye, good Idea. Here." Now armed with a Bow and a few Iron Arrows, Both men took aim at different spiders, sentries and guards for the nest. Their aim was true, the spiders fell before they could alert the others, though more still came.

This battle was quick, Tor using one of the looted swords, hurtled it into one of the Spiders, cutting it in half. Ralof expertly pivoted out of the way of the other one and killed it with a downwards Axe strike, Tor allowed himself a moment of amusement at the muttered, "Hate, these things"

"It is best not to linger, I'd rather not wager on the chance that nest was four spiders." Tor spoke, it was a concern born from a lifetime of hunting and given most nests normally sat somewhere in the 10-20 range, he would rather not be here when the others come.

Moving forward both men spotted the bear, Tor was a little upset, they could not harvest it, but Tor took aim with his Bow and fired, the Arrow pierced through the bears eye, it was dead before it had a chance to act.

"There should be an exit just up ahead, Bears do not go far from one." The hunter spoke again, informing his partner that they were close to freedom.

Emerging from the cave, both men immediately ducked into the nearby shurbbery to avoid the eyes of the flying dealer of death that had destroyed helgin. Tor grabbed Ralof to keep him down after the dragon had passed from their sight.

"The beast has senses sharper than our own, stay down stormcloak," Came his aggressive hiss, his long hunting experience has taught him how to avoid detection by all manor of animals.

As they made their way to Riverwood, Ralof thanked Tor for his help, as well as informing him of his sister and their need to lay low for a while. Tor took it all in, they ran into a thief and a few bandits but nothing they couldn't handle.

After a talk with Ralof's sister Gerdur it was decided that Tor would had to white run in a few days, as his strength was still growing. Tor quickly settled into the humble village, renting a room in the Sleeping Giant Inn and providing a hunting service to the village.

Casting his mind back to the Dragon, Tor could almost picture the words it spoke, for some reason this memory persisted till sleep finally claimed him, his final thoughts, "Why did it sound like the dragon said something before it breathed its flames?"

* * *

**Preview**:

His hand raised, and Thunder answered his Call, bringing with it a powerful weapon, as a resounding metallic sound filled the area.

Tor's hand wrapped around the handle of a hammer, and lightning danced while Thunder roared.


	3. Chapter 3 in Whiterun there be Dragons

Tor stayed in Riverwood for a few days to rest and recover from the dragon attack.

Tor noticed it, he wasn't tiring, not any more. He could run and run and run without getting winded. Though fighting seemed to exhaust him, he recovered with almost elven swiftness.

He was also stronger, before Helgen he could lift a bear above his head but it took all his strength to do so, now he could do it with a single arm.

An encounter with thieves showed him that his strength had grown so great that he could throw a Nord into a wall hard enough to kill them.

The scary part wasn't this enhancement happened, it was that it was still happening.

* * *

He crafted himself armor at the forge, Steel in fact. As he explained to the forges owner; Alvor the runes drew ambient magicka in and turned the armour lightweight, self cleaning and with a controlled temperature.

With this armour and his weapons, he departed the little town. Heading towards Whiterun. It was a three day travel, as he stopped for rest and sleep at night.

A few wolves and Rabbits were added to his collection, of pelts.

It was on his third day when he met his first irritation.

"All right, hand over your valuables, or I'll gut you like a fish!" a man, more of an annoyance really, clad in full leather armour accosted him. He stood face to chest with Tor, with a hood obscuring his features.

"Walk away. Right now" Tor ordered dismissively, he did not care for this interaction.

"Nice try, but you don't scare me," the thief jeered a taunt at Thor.

He followed up with a growled "I'm not going to ask again."

Tor rolled his eyes, and walked away. A normal Nord would mostly have died here, "Don't you walk away from me!"

Our hero simply turned and grabbed the thief by his chest gear, raising his arm Tor threw him into a tree, impaling the thief on one of the branches. After looting the corpse for spare gear and coin, Tor continued to whiterun.

* * *

He saw the Giants head first, standing over the rocks, attacking a farm.

Tor turned wrathful, he always did when he spotted Giants and so he charged towards the fight.

Dhreb smashed into the side of the giants head, Tor raced forward and using a small wall leapt onto the beast, grabbing its tunic to stay there, his fists met the beasts head with enough force to cave a bear's head in.

Tor managed 4 blows before he was torn from the beast and thrown into the stone wall that was crushed from the impact.

Rising out of the destroyed wall, Tor met the changinging giant head on, Hǫggva cleaving a piece of the giants club off.

Leaping up to the giants chest, he buried the Enchanted Axe in its chest, and used it to pull himself level with the beasts head.

The giant was able to throw him away again, Tor's hands and feet left gauges in the ground where he halted himself.

He saw Dhreb nearby, and with a role wielded it once more. The giant had made the mistake of attacking one of the others present.

Tor raced up behind the giant and using Dhreb brought the beast to its knees. Turning so that he was back to back with giant.

Tor leaped up again, this time he wielded Dhreb as a garrote, and with this performed his most impressive display of strength yet.

His core strained as his legs were raised, then he through his body weight forward and the giant _FLEW _.

Tor moved with a Deers swiftness and ran to the fallen giant, tearing Hǫggva from its chest, he buried it in the beast's head, and with a roar, leapt and rolled so that Dhrb met the back of Hǫggva's blade, guaranteeing the kill.

The woman approached him, she was a little shorter than him, with brownish red hair and yellow eyes, Tor recognized a fellow hunter when he saw one.

After a brief conversation with her, where he learned her name; Aela and the Order she was a part of; the Companions.

After bidding her farewell he continued on his way to whiterun.

As he approached the Whiterun gate one of the guards stopped him, he was annoyed until he heard why he was stopped.

They were adored in the typical guard armour, a chain mail vest with a yellow cloth in a toga-esque design over it. Their legs were covered in a leather of sorts with knee pads. Tor could not make any feature out from under their helmets,

"Halt! City's closed with the Dragons about. Official Business Only" one of the guards stated. Tor privately agreed with that, one could never be to careful.

"A wise precaution, but I have news on the attack and a message from Riverwood" he stated, from what he had heard of the Jarl, he knew the man would act in his defence.

"News? A Message?" the second Guard asked, more than a little suspicious, and he was right to be.

"The Dragon that Attacked Helgen flew Riverwoods way, an attack may happen soon." Tor spoke, knowing both me loved their homes and would allow him entrance.

"Riverwood's in Danger too?! You had better go in" came the first guards urgent shout, quickly unlocking the door and allowing Tor entrance.

* * *

Tor quickly made his way through Whiterun, moving closer to Dragonsreach. An idle thought crossed his mind, there were legends that surrounded Dragonsreach. Some say that it was built to trap a dragon.

Once he would have dismissed this as a child tale, but now… he had arrived at dragonsreach.

So with a controlled breath cast the thought from his mind and focussed on his mission.

As he entered the gargantuan structure he was met by a Drunmer - a Dark Elf, she had drawn her sword and approached him. She was chest high with him and had blazing red eyes and hair. Her face was set in a fierce scowl.

"What's the meaning of this interruption? Jarl Balgruuf is not receiving visitors." the Nightblade demanded, her suspicious gaze would have scared a lesser man but Tor was unmoved.

"I have news from Helgen. About the dragon attack. As well as a warning about Riverwood and its people, whose lives may be in danger" he spoke, his voice laced with an urgency that helped convince the Drunmer to move him along.

"Well, that explains why the guards let you in. Come on then, the Jarl will want to speak to you personally." she conceded, inviting Tor to follow her to the Jarl's chair.

Tor approached the Jarl behind the Dark Elf and waited to be addressed as he was in the presence of a city leader this was only right.

"What's this about Riverwood being in danger?" the Jarl asked.

"The dragon that attacked Helgen was seen by Gerdur flying over riverwood, it is only a miracle that Riverwood still stands" Tor detailed.

"Gerdur? Owns the lumber mill, if I'm not mistaken. Pillar of the community. Not prone to flights of fancy... And you're sure Helgen was destroyed by a dragon? This wasn't some Stormcloak raid gone wrong?"

"Aye My Jarl, I am sure, I was at Helgen, I saw it rain Fire and Death on the town. I barely escaped the beast with my life" Tor recounted in muted horror. A horror shared by all who heard it.

A small part of Tor felt guilty for the deception, but he had not given his name for a reason.

The Jarl turned to address his council, an average sized balding man, and asked

"what do you say now, Proventus? Shall we continue to trust in the strength of our walls? Against a Dragon?" the jarl almost sounded angry, but Tor heard concern there as well.

The Drunmer spoke here before the council man had a chance to react "My Lord, we should send troops to Riverwood at once"

She continued with "Its in the most immediate danger if that Dragon is lurking in the mountains..." she trailed off towards the end, Tor understood that thought had plagued his mind since he left Riverwood 3 days ago.

Proventus spoke up with a valid concern towards the ongoing civil war

"The Jarlk of Falkreath will view that as a provocation! He'll assume that we're preparing to join Ulfric's side and attack him"

"We should..." the councilman continued only to be cut off by the Jarl himself.

"Enough! I'll not stand idly by while a Dragon burns down my hold and slaughters my people." he declared with fierce determination.

"Irileth send a detachment to riverwood at once." he ordered.

"Yes, My Jarl" the Drunmer obeyed.

"If you'll excuse me i'll return to my duties" Proventus spoke up, waiting to be dismissed.

"That would be best" the Jarl Agreed.

Tor didn't allow his posture to slack, though he was less tense now, Riverwood would not have some protection against a dragon attack.

"Well done. You sought me out, on your own initiative. You've done Whiterun a service, and I won't forget it. Here, take this as a small token of my esteem." the Jarl spoke, and with a signal, sent one of the servants to retrieve a Steel Shield from his armoury.

"There is another thing you could do for me. Suitable for someone of your particular talents, perhaps." he challenged Tor.

"Come, let's go find Farengar, my court wizard. He's been looking into a matter related to these dragons and... rumors of dragons." the Jarl praised as he as he rose from his chair and proceeded into a room on his left so Tor's right.

"Farengar, I think I've found someone who can help you with your Dragon project." The Jarl addressed the Robed Man of average height and thin build, yet despite this.

Tor could sense power in him.

"Go ahead and fill him on all the details." the Jarl gave his court Wizard permission to inform Tor of what was most likely not public knowledge.

"So the Jarl thinks you can be of use to me? Oh yes, he must be referring to my research into the dragons. Yes, I could use someone to fetch something for me. Well, when I say fetch, I really mean delve into a dangerous ruin in search of an ancient stone tablet that may or may not actually be there."

"Aye? and why is this important and more pressingly how does this concern the Dragons?" Tor questioned. He had no interest in wasting his time after.

"Ah, no mere brute mercenary, but a thinker - perhaps even a scholar? You see, when the stories of dragons began to circulate, many dismissed them as mere fantasies, rumors. Impossibilities." the mage began as Tor lesticned attentively.

"One sure mark of a fool is to dismiss anything that falls outside his experience as being impossible. But I began to search for information about dragons - where had they gone all those years ago? And where were they coming from?" he continued

Tor nodded along, the mage spoke truly.

"You speak truly mage, what would you have me do?" came the question from Tor.

"I began to search for information about dragons - where had they gone all those years ago? And where were they coming from?" came the rhetorical questions from the Mage, all good questions to ask.

"I ah, learned of a certain stone tablet said to be housed in Bleak Falls Barrow - a "Dragonstone," said to contain a map of dragon burial sites.

Go to Bleak Falls Barrow, find this tabler - no doubt interred in the main chamber - and bring it to me. Simplicity itself." he finished explaining and Tor now had a new mission.

It was in his own best interest to do this, no one wanted the dragons here after all. So Tor departed Dragonsreach.

* * *

Thieves and bandits harassed him as he traveled to the Bleak Falls Barrow, nothing he could not deal with but annoying nonetheless.

Climbing the mountain proved treacherous, the snow and ice meant he risked injury with every step and some of the path was deceitfully solid.

Still Tor continued, and soon enough he was out the entrance to the barrow. His eyes rolled "of course bandits are here, why wouldn't they be?" he grumbled.

But moved into the fight, the bandits were dead before they could comprehend what was happening.

Fighting his way through the Barrow, defeating bandit after banit and laying to rest Draugr after Draugr. He ignored the puzzle by ripping the door out of the way.

Though he had to stop due to being poisoned, a light meal and slight rest fixed that.

After freeing and then killing a thief he had heard about in Riverwood, he continued on, his final opponent was a Draguer Scourge, who somehow had the Voice, this was bad.

He had looked into it in Riverwood, he knew enough to know its users were not to be trifled with.

Eventually he approached a door made of Gold, unlike most other doors Tor could not break it, nor could he rip it out of place. It stopped him for a few moments.

Then he noticed the key holes on the door.

Retrieving the stolen claw from napsack, he saw the markings on the claw, the door had 3 rings, matching the symbol on the claw to the corresponding ring.

Then using inserting the claw into the keyholes and turning it allowed him to progress even further.

Moving through the maze like catacombs, Tor encountered more Draugr and even a troll, not that it mattered, soon he approached the room where the Dragonstone was kept and with it his final challenge of the Bleak Falls Barrow.

The room itself was reminiscent of a shrine, the wall radiated a strange power, and on the altar in front of it, were what looked like offerings.

It was the coffin that concerned him the most though for it most likely had a Draugr in it.

He was right, there was a Draugr in the coffin, one stronger than the others, a Draugr Scourge. And this particle corpse was terrifying.

He was too far away to make out the words, but speak it did and a wave a force erupted from its mouth and knocked him into a wall.

Diving behind a rock formation as another wave of force swept out from the corpses mouth, Tor went to move only to duck again as the Draugr unleashed another wave of force, he could vaguely hear some of the words.

Tor pushed off his hold and turned, lifting the boulder he ran forward, using it as cover.

The waves of force quickened and soon his cover was dust in the wind, but now he was close enough to fight.

Dhreb smashed into the into the side of the Draugr's head, redirecting the voice away. Hǫggva lobbed of one of the undead legs as Tor pivoted and brought back across its head, sending it into the wall.

Tor was shocked, he was hitting hard enough to bring down a giant, yet this Draugr fought on, it would be impressive were it not for the fact that this corpse could very well claim his life. An instinct came over him, he did not know where this instinct came from nor why he had it but he was thankful that he did.

Thrusting Dhreb forward, Magicka became sparks as he channeled it through his Mace. the cave was dyed with etheral blue light as _LIGHTNING _came from the Mace. the Draugr was destroyed instantly.

Tor was shocked, both at the destroyed Draugr and the damage his mace had taken. His shock rose further when he approached the destroyed Draugr to find the Dragonstone and something happened.

Light from one of the words shone and moved towards him, and his mind was filled with the word "FUS" the draconic word for force. Tor was confused, and lost track of time, he now recalled the words that Dragon at Helgen said.

"YOL TOOR SHUL!"

"What does this mean? Why is this happening? Why can't I banish this word from my mind?" Tor pleaded to a higher power, this was after his enhancement, his half remembered dreams on his unique enchantments, it was all to much.

Soon his panic began to lesson, as Tor remembered why he was here, he had a mission, one he must complete. It was time to return to white run.

* * *

After exiting the Barrow, and stopping by riverwood, both to return the Claw and pick up more supplies he took a carriage to Whiterun. Still his mind was filled with thoughts from earlier, he had even said the word "FUS" nothing had happened.

Making his way to Dragonsreach and as he approached Farengar's quarters he heard a conversation taking place.

Upon arriving Tor was greeted with the sight of a woman, garbed in leather and hooded, he could not make out her face, but her voice sounded familiar, talking about the Dragons with Farengar.

"You see? The terminology is clearly First Era or even earlier. I'm convinced this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps dating to just after the Dragon War. If so, I could use this to cross-reference the names with other later texts." came the wizards exited voice.

"Good. I'm glad you're making progress. My employers are anxious to have some tangible answers." the woman said. Tor could not place where he knew that voice but he knew it.

"Oh, have no fear. The Jarl himself has finally taken an interest, so I'm now able to devote most of my time to this research." the wizard affirmed to the mysteriously familiar woman.

"Time is running, Farengar, don't forget. This isn't some theoretical question. Dragons have come back." said woman warned, she seemed to know the know the Dragon threat more than anyone.

"Yes, yes. Don't worry. Although the chance to see a living dragon up close would be tremendously valuable... Now, let me show you something else I found... very intriguing... I think your employers may be interested as well..." the wizard murmerd, thinking aloud of the possibilities now open to him.

"You have a visitor." the woman informored the wizard, taking nocite of Tor's presence.

"Hmm? Ah, yes, the Jarl's protege! Back from Bleak Falls Barrow? You didn't die, it seems." the wizard commented, Tor forced down some irritation at that. But before a conversation Tor could ask a question Irileth raced into the room.

"Farengar! Farengar, you need to come at once. A dragon's been sighted nearby." the Dark Elf exclaimed, slightly short of breath.

"You should come, too." she addressed Tor.

"A dragon! How exciting! Where was it seen? What was it doing?" the wizard questioned, a little inappropriately, something the Dark Elf was quick to correct.

"I'd take this a bit more seriously if I were you." Irileth reprimanded, Tor noticed her body language spoke of fear, no concern her next words revealed why "If a dragon decides to attack Whiterun, I don't know if we can stop it."

"Let's go." the dark elf commanded Tor and Farengar, the hooded woman slipping out silently in the commotion.

It was a short March up the stairs to the Jarl. The man wore an expression of concern and unease, Tor felt an unusual pressure in the air.

"So, Irileth tells me you came from the western watchtower?" the Jarl questioned a guard whom was already there.

"Yes, my lord." he spoke.

"Tell him what you told me. About the dragon." Irileth commanded, if not for the subject it would be amusing to see her say similar words to an excited child.

"Uh... that's right. We saw it coming from the south. It was fast... faster than anything I've ever seen."

"What did it do? Is it attacking the watchtower?" the Jarl questioned frantically, he was hoping to save lives and this information was critical for that.

"No, my lord. It was just circling overhead when I left. I never ran so fast in my life... I thought it would come after me for sure." the guard noticeably shuddered, Tor could relate.

"Good work, son. We'll take it from here. Head down to the barracks for some food and rest. You've earned it." the Jarl praised the guard as well as allowed him to rest after the harrowing experience.

"Irileth, you'd better gather some guardsmen and get down there." he ordered the Dark Elf as he addressed her.

"I've already ordered my men to muster near the main gate." said Elf proved to be of one mind with the Jarl and had taken preparations for this order.

"Good. Don't fail me." the Jarl spoke to her once more before addressing Tor.

"There's no time to stand on ceremony, my friend. I need your help again. I want you to go with Irileth and help her fight this Dragon. You survived Helgen, so you have more experience with dragons than anyone else here." he plainly stated, now was not the time for word games.

"But I haven't forgotten the service you did for me in retrieving the Dragonstone for Farengar. As a token of my esteem, I have instructed Avenicci that you are now permitted to take ownership of an abandoned property in the city. Within this property there is a gift from my personal armoury, a token of my gratitude." he continued in acknowledgement of Tor's assistance with the Dragonstone.

"I should come along. I would very much like to see this dragon." Farengar spoke out, Tor almost rebuked him for it but the Jarl beat him to it.

"No. I can't afford to risk both of you. I need you here working on ways to defend the city against these dragons." the Jarl may not like Magic be he was not blind to its use.

"As you command." the Wizard said, as he retreated to his quarters to do more research.

"One last thing, Irileth. This isn't a death or glory mission. I need to know what we're dealing with." the Jarl warned the Dark Elf, he seemed to rely on her a lot, so her death was to be avoided at all costs.

"Don't worry, my lord. I'm the very soul of caution." the Dark Elf soothed, she knew the danger that they now faced.

So Departing Dragonsreach with Irileth, he was treated to her giving some of her men a pep talk, and together they left towards the Western Watchtower for a battle that would go down in history.

* * *

The journey was tense, everyone stuck low, under capes to try and avoid the Dragons notice till they were ready to fight it.

Tension Hung in the air, as Tor and Irileth checked the skies every few minutes, it was clear, but Tor knew from experience how fast these beasts were.

Soon they reached the tower, and then the Dragon appeared. It was not the same dragon that attacked Helgen, but it was still fear inducing, yet something within Tor responded to it, something that relished the prospect of a battle against this beast.

Tor was brought out of this feeling as he heard the words "YOL TOOR SHUL!" grabbing Irileth he dived out of the way, a second later the flames hit were they were. The dragon landed a few feet away and...dared them to attack it. The fight was on.

The Dragon's head surged forward and snapped at one of the guards who batted it away with his shield. Before it attack again Hǫggva pierced its back as Tor raced towards it, hoping to jump and bring Dhreb down on the axe to damage or more hopefully kill it

He wasn't fast enough to enact this plan, the beasts tail smashed into his chest and he was thrown into a wall as a result of it. The Image of a Hammer filed his mind, as if… a loud cry of "MOVE" warned Tor of the incoming fire.

Flipping Dhreb into reverse he smashed it into the wall letting him fall out of the way of the death bringing flames. Springing up Tor channeled Sparks down his arm and into Dhreb, hoping to do something to the Dragon.

Now if he had found the time to maintain Dhreb, this could have turned the tide of the fight, but Dhreb was still damaged from last time, so instead Tor got a second and a half of Lightning before his Mace exploded.

Throwing him into away from the fight. As he lay on the ground, bleeding profusely the hammer filled his mind once more. The same instinct that compelled him to use his spell through his mace on the Draugr once again took hold.

Tor struggled at first but soon he completed what the instinct told him to do. His hand raised, and Thunder answered his Call, bringing with it a powerful weapon, as a resounding metallic sound filled the area.

Something flew, and flew fast. Tor's hand wrapped around the handle of a hammer, and Lightning danced while Thunder roared.

The Dragon its head only to be hit by the Hammer, which stopped in mid air and flew back to Tor's hand. Tor glared at the Dragon, and raised the Hammer High. as if Nature itself wanted the Dragon dead Lightning descended from the sky and onto the Hammer.

The Sparks Spell traveled up his arm as he pulled his Hammer before thrusting it forward, and Nature's Fury leapt from its surface and onto the Dragon. The beast howled in pain, as Tor approached it.

The Lighting stopped, so with a speed that belonged to something smaller the Dragon had turned and lashed out, only to be met by a Lightning covered Hammer. The behemoth was thrown back with a spark covered shockwave.

Tor leapt up and brought the Hammer down on the beasts had, Thunder boomed throughout the area as the rest of the Built Lightning was released into the beasts head, the threat was over.

Then something strange happened, the Dragon seemed to… dissolve and a spiral of red, blue and gold enveloped them both, suddenly, he knew what to do.

Rearing back he spoke "FUS!" and like the Draugr a wave of Force shot from his mouth, to the heavens.

* * *

**Preview**:

Sucking in a deep breath, the Man exclaimed in gutal voice.

"FUS RO DAH!"

The force of the words blasted the others in the room.


	4. Chapter 4 of Beards and Blades

"I can't believe it! You're… Dragonborn..." one of the guards spoke in awe. Tor could relate; Every Nord grew up with the legend of a mortal with the soul of a dragon.

It was the most popular game for children to play, "The Dragonborn and the Dragons," like most present, Tor himself had played it when he was younger.

"It appears so," came his breathy voice; he was still processing this.

As the guard who had spoken to Tor informed the others, whom had never paid attention to the legends of what the Dragonborn was, Tor's world spun, this would explain much, but the legends never spoke of the Dragonborn having his strength or stamina.

Irileth approached him, after scolding her men for talk of legends.

"That was the hairiest fight I've ever been in, and I've been in more than a few. I don't know about this Dragonborn business, but I'm sure glad you're with us. You better get back to Whiterun right away. Jarl Balgruuf will want to know what happened here. I'm taking command here for the moment. You head back to Whiterun and let the Jarl know what happened."

With a nod, he headed off. It was best to send someone to the Jarl to report the good news, and his mind was still processing, meaning he would not be of much use. The Hammer sung in his grip, as something within him sung back.

When he approached the main hold of Whiterun, the sky quaked as a shout of "**DOVAHKIIN**" followed by a loud crash of thunder? Not quite, Tor could sense a subtle difference, but that was not important.

What was important was the word, it resonated with him. Almost like something in his soul responded to it, the urge to shout, to use 'FUS' to answer was there, he suppressed it but only just.

Soon he reached Dragonsreach and stood before Jarl Balgruuf once more. No time was wasted on politeness and formality.

"So what happened at the watchtower? Was the dragon there?" came the urgent question from the Jarl.

"The watchtower was destroyed, but we killed the dragon." Tor soothed or attempted to.

"I knew I could count on Irileth." the Jarl visabbly saged in relief, but Tor was startled by his next statement.

"But there must be more to it than that." The Jarl showed his insight, seeing that there was Information he was missing.

"Turns out I may be something called "Dragonborn." he reveled.

"Dragonborn? What do you know about the Dragonborn?" the Jarl asked in shock, though not accusatory.

"When the dragon died, I absorbed some kind of power from it," came the honest response from Tor.

"So it's true. The Greybeards really were summoning you." Balgruuf voice was filled with a controlled excitement.

"The Greybeards?" Tor questioned, he knew them vaguely but not well.

"Masters of the Way of the Voice. They live in seclusion high on the slopes of the Throat of the World." came the explanation from Balgruuf.

"What do these 'Greybeards' want with me?" Tor asked, that was an important question.

"The Dragonborn is uniquely gifted in the Voice - the ability to focus your vital essence into a Thu'um, or Shout. If you really are Dragonborn, they can teach you how to use your gift." the Jarl informed his guest.

"Didn't you hear the thundering sound as you returned to Whiterun?" came the question from the man next the Jarl.

"That was the voice of the Greybeards, summoning you to High Hrothgar! This hasn't happened in... centuries, at least. Not since Tiber Septim himself was summoned when he was still Talos of Atmora!" the man exclaimed in excitement.

"Hrongar, calm yourself. What does any of this Nord nonsense have to do with our friend here? Capable as he may be, I don't see any signs of him being this, what, 'Dragonborn'." Proventus disagreed.

"Nord nonsense?! Why you puffed-up ignorant... these are our sacred traditions that go back to the founding of the First Empire!" the now named Hrongar, voiced his indignation. Tor lost interest in this conversation here.

However, as he thought about leaving and began to mentally plan his route to Ivarstead, the Hammer sung, and Tor felt a power flow from within him into the hammer then back into him, the sensation of the wind in his face, the howl of it in his ears and he knew how to get there.

"My friend, where are you going? The door is not that way," Balgruuf asked in confusion.

"An instinct warns me that walking will take too long, so I will travel much faster," Tor informed the Jarl with confidence, his mind filled with the image of his Hammer rotating.

"Wha-How?" the incredulity was easy to see.

"You'll see," was Tor's cryptic response.

Approaching the open area of Dragonsreach, Tor gripped his Hammer by it's leather strap and began to spin it, slowly at first but then the revolutions began to pick up speed.

Soon a noticeable gust was present, twisting his torso back, Tor then threw his right arm forwards, the hammer pulled him off his feet as he _FLEW _, with a twist he redirected the hammer upwards.

The Jarl's court were awed; it was not everyday you saw a man fly, now was it.

* * *

Once in the air, it was a simple matter to fly to High Hrothgar; though as Tor soon learned it was not so simple to land.

Tor bounced once, twice, thrice as he collided with the ground. But his humiliation did not stop there, he still had his momentum and so he rolled into the side of the mountain.

Almost as if the Divines were laughing at him, snow soon coated the Nord.

He lay there for a few minutes stewing in indignation.

When he had calmed down and gotten the snow off of him, he proceeded to the monastery, and made his way to the garbed man who beckoned him over.

"So... a Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of the age." the monk spoke, making an observation on the current events.

"I'm answering your summons, Monk." Tor cut right to the point, he knew if allowed the Monk could talk in circles.

"We will see if you truly have the gift. Show us, Dragonborn. Let us taste of your Voice." he requested.

"Very well" Tor accepted. He inhaled deeply and with a mighty cry of "FUS!" unleashed a wave of force that slammed into the monk and knocked him from his feet.

"Dragonborn. It is you. Welcome to High Hrothgar." the Monk spoke reverently.

"I am master Arngeir. I speak for the Greybeards. Now, tell me, Dragonborn, why have you come here?" the now named Arngeir spoke, inquiring in the reason Tor had for accepting the summons.

"Why are you here, in this place?" Tor questioned, curiously.

"We are the Greybeards, followers of the Way of the Voice. You stand in High Hrothgar, on the slopes of Kynareth's sacred mountain. Here we commune with the voice of the sky, and strive to achieve balance between our inner and outer selves." Arngeir explained, Tor nodded and moved on.

"I want to find out what it means to be Dragonborn." Tor spoke, the word dragonborn still resonating even now.

"We are here to guide you in that pursuit, just as the Greybeards have sought to guide those of the Dragon Blood that came before you." the monk explained, though Tor latched on to one part of that statement.

"You mean I'm not the only Dragonborn?" his shock was apparent as this question left his lips before he could stop it.

"You are not the first. There have been many of the Dragon Blood since Akatosh first bestowed that gift upon mortals. Whether you are the only Dragonborn of this age... that is not ours to know. You are the only one that has been revealed thus far. That is all I can say."

"I am ready to learn, Arngeir" Tor spoke confidently. And with that his training began.

"Without training, you have already taken the first steps towards projecting your Voice into a Thu'um, a Shout. Now let us see if you are willing and able to learn." the monk began, his voice taking on the tone of a teacher.

"When you Shout, you speak in the language of dragons. Thus, your Dragon Blood gives you an inborn ability to learn Words of Power. All Shouts are made up of three Words of Power. As you master each Word, your Shout will become progressively stronger." he lectured, Tor made sure to commit this lesson to his memory, he could sense that it would be important.

Both men were moving towards the middle of the room, Arngeir lead the younger Tor into a more open space for what was to come.

"Master Einarth will now teach you 'Ro,' the second Word in Unrelenting Force. Ro means "Balance" in the dragon tongue. Combine it with Fus - 'Force' - to focus your Thu'um more sharply."

"Ro..." Tor extended his senses, he saw the word carve itself into the ground, he felt as the world warped and twisted around the word, he could tell that it was not magicka that generated this effect.

Just like the wall in the barrow, Tor felt the word fill his mind, he felt the ancient knowledge and power of the word more clearly now.

"You learn a new word like a master... you truly do have the gift. But learning a Word of Power is only the first step... you must unlock its meaning through constant practice in order to use it in a Shout." the lecturer continued, though Tor was confused, he knew this not to be true, at least for him.

"Well, that is how the rest of us learn Shouts. As Dragonborn, you can absorb a slain dragon's life force and knowledge directly." Tor nodded in understanding at this, he was the exception not the rule.

"As part of your initiation, Master Einarth will allow you to tap into his understanding of 'Ro'." Tor was coated in the same aura that he had when he absorbed the dragons life force. And just like before he now knew how to shout "Ro".

"Now let us see how quickly you can master your new Thu'um. Use your Unrelenting Force shout to strike the targets as they appear." came his teachers task for him.

What followed were the other 3 Greybeards using the shout of "Fiik... Lo...Sah!" to create clones for Tor to destroy. It was a simple and easy process, plus it allowed Tor to experiment with his shout.

"Impressive. Your Thu'um is precise. You show great promise, Dragonborn. We will perform your next trial in the courtyard. Follow Master Borri." Tor nodded and followed the aforementioned greybeard into courtyard.

"We will now see how you learn a completely new Shout. Master Borri will teach you "Wuld," which means 'Whirlwind.'"

Just as before, Tor was able to sense the word as it was carved into the ground, then it resonated in his mind.

"You must hear the word within yourself before you can project it into a Thu'um. Approach Master Borri and he will gift you his knowledge of 'Wuld'."

"Now we will see how quickly you can master a new Shout. Master Wulfgar will demonstrate Whirlwind Sprint. Then it will be your turn. Master Borri."

"Bex!" he called as the gate opened.

"Wuld... Nah… Kest!" Tor could not make out the second and third word

"Now it is your turn. Stand next to me. Master Borri will open the gate. Use your Whirlwind Sprint to pass through before it closes."

"Bex!" the Monk called again.

"Wuld!" Tor could feel it, the wind gathered behind him and built against his back, so it built to the point of firing forward like he was launched from a bow.

Something within Tor responded to the wind, to the shout, and suddenly he knew how to fly much better.

"Your quick mastery of a new Thu'um is... astonishing. I'd heard the stories of the abilities of Dragonborn, but to see it for myself..." came the revererent voice of Arngeir.

"Thank you, though I don't know how I do it. It just seems to happen." Tor accepted the praise though admitted his lack of knowledge to this skill.

"You were given this gift by the gods for a reason. It is up to you to figure out how to best use it. You are now ready for your last trial." came the gentle letcher of the monk.

"Well then what would you have me do next?" Tor questioned the monk.

"You are now ready for your last trial." Arngeir began "Retrieve the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller, our founder, from his tomb in the ancient fane of Ustengrav. Remain true to the Way of the Voice, and you will return."

"Sky above, Voice within." the monk blessed Tor as he turned to leave, Tor gave a bow of respect in turn and began to spin his hammer once more, this time feeling the wind currents.

The greybeards collectively gasped as Tor rocketed upwards and then in the direction of the tomb they had sent him to.

* * *

Tor upon spotting the tomb of Ustengrav he was required to go to, he rolled forward and flew downwards, redirecting the Hammer above his head he snapped his wrist in a circle allowing him to hover, slowly he decreased the revolutions till he was able to land gently.

His sharpened senses alerted him to danger as he spun around and caught the arrow that had been aimed at his head. "Bandits," he snarled, the civil war had seen a spike in activity from these cretens.

Spinning the hammer around, he hurled it at one of the archers. Then with a mighty leap, he closed the distance to the other archer and wielded the bandit as a weapon against his allies. Hurtling the archer at the final one ended that annoyance.

Tor held his hand out towards the Hammer, a Bandit; one even bigger than him rushed towards the blond Nord. Tor stepped into his charge, and swung upwards with his now returned Hammer.

The Bandits head was blown clean off his shoulders with that. Tor with his left hand unleashed an Expert Level Thunder spell, something his instincts had taught him. It struck the Necromancer who sought to raise the fallen bandits and turned him to dust.

"Talos, guide my Hammer so that I might let my brothers and sisters rest," he let a small prayer out as descended into the Tomb.

"Wuld!" the shout left his mouth as dodged another wave of force from the Drauger. Hurdling the Hammer at his opponent, Tor ran behind another pillar. So distracted by the Deathlord he was hit by a normal Druagr's Ebony Mace.

Grabbing the Draugr's shoulder strap, he hurled it into the path of Deathlord, which promptly shouted again, giving Tor the opening he needed to get close, and calling his Hammer to him, he destroyed its head.

More Draugr rose with its destruction, Thunderbolt ran up Tor's left arm as Lightning sparked around his Hammer, holding the weapon in front of him, he slammed his palm into side of the Hammer.

A shockwave of Lightning and Thunder spread out, obliterating all the Draugr. "Talos rest your souls, brethren," he murmured, as he moved on, looting their remains for the weapons, armor and gold.

Making his way through the tomb, dispatching Draugr after Draugr and skeleton after skeleton. Tor navigated the maze-like tomb as he fought his way through it. Eventually, he came to the Ustengrav depths. He could now sense the Word here.

The room of puzzles, an annoying room that tested his mastery of "Wuld!" Still, he persevered, shooting through the doors with ease. Tor's next obstacle was a room filled with Spiders and flaming plate traps.

Casting the Flame spell, he incinerated the spiders and merely used his Hammer to leap over the plate traps. He followed the whisper of the word; he could almost hear it was so close. Soon he stood before a room filled with Druagr; restless and Deathlords at that.

Tor reached out, not with his Magika but with the power that seemed to grant his strength. The power he could now feel clearly thanks to his Hamm-no not Hammer, its, her name was Mjølnir.

The Mjølnir sung in joy at this, Tor reached out with his Sedir and electrified the Draugr here. Raising his left fist, Tor unleashed a massive current and imbued it with his Magicka, the results were the annihilation of the Druagr in the room.

He followed the call of the word and soon enough stood before the wall where it was written, he felt the word resonate with something within him, he could feel it clearer but not as well as his Seidr.

Turning his head he saw several Draugr Deathlords, so sucking in a deep breath, the man exclaimed in guttural voice.

"FUS! RO! DAH!"

The force of the words blasted the others in the room across the floor. With Seidr in his voice he bellowed "DYNJA!" and a bolt of thunder leapt from his mouth chaining across all of the Deathlords.

Their still forms told him all he needed to know about what had happened. "Talos guides you to Soveriengard, brothers," he prayed for their enteral joy. Though the horn was missing, and it its place was a note, this caused him to narrow his eyes.

"Dragonborn-

I need to speak to you. Urgently.

Rent the attic room at the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood, and I'll meet you.

-A friend"

The note read "It would seem I've been summoned by a new player. Best not keep them waiting," Tor spoke to himself and Mjølnir. The Hammer pulsed a warning at him, one he took on board.

* * *

Exiting the tomb, Tor shot off into the air as he made his way to Riverwood, as he streaked through the skies he sensed it, the beast from Helgin. Rolling to a stop, he held MMjølnir above his head.

Slowly his form, rotated, scanning, looking for the obsidian monster. This saved his life, it was not the beast from Helgin; a dragon lashed at him, knocking him from the sky. His hand flexed and Mjølnir returned to it.

"Have at thee, BEAST," he howled and hurled Mjølnir towards it, the dragon was knocked off its course and both Thu'um users collided into the ground with a mighty explosion and earth shaking impact.

Tor's blood sung as he summoned the mystical Hammer. "WULD!" he roared as surged towards the Dragon and brought his partner down on the beast's snout. A shockwave of lightning crackled from the impact.

The beasts head dug a gouge into the ground, Seidr and Magicka danced as one as Tor called Nature's Fury onto his Hammer, with strength enough to fell a giant brought his partner down on the fallen beast.

This fight however was not over, it proved to be resilient and agile, enough so that it was able to dodge the blow, the beast's tail collided with Tor's side with the force of a giants club.

Landing face first into a stone wall, he pulled himself out, blood dripping from his mouth and nose as _something _within him beat to the song of battle. Thrusting his hand forward, a torrent of lightning erupted from the end of his fist and smashed into the great beast.

It roared in agony, only to be cut off by Mjølnir slamming into its breast. The beast fell on its back and could not rise as Mjølnir held it down. "WULD!" Tor moved to the beast's side in an instant.

Seidr and Magicka blended as he called his partner and with the momentum it generated slammed his thunder covered hammer into his opponents head, caving it in and ending this fight.

Panting as he absorbed its power and life. Tor grabbed it's skeleton and shot off, he was most eager to see if he could forge it into some better armour.

* * *

After having safely stored the skeleton away, only those with flight could find it, he landed in Riverwood indenting the ground due to misjudging his own speed. Making his way back to the inn, he entered and spoke to Delphine.

"Good afternoon, Miss Delphine, I'd like to rent the attic room," he spoke to the innkeeper, making sure to be respectful.

"Attic room, eh? Well... we don't have an attic room, but you can have the one on the left. Make yourself at home," came her response. Tor's eyes narrowed, why had Delphine been in Whiterun?

Thanking her, he entered his room and taking some of his acquired wine, began to drink. It had been roughly 2 and a half hours when Delphine stepped in. Tor was on guard the moment he saw her.

"So you're the Dragonborn I've been hearing so much about. I think you're looking for this. We need to talk. Follow me," she commanded after handing him the horn.

She lead him into a room across from his own, adding a sway to her hips to make sure people knew to 'silence' their rooms. Tor allowed himself a moment of indulgence, eyes glued to the way her shapely lower half moved.

Once the door was closed and locked, she spoke again, "Now we can talk," her voice was hard, that of a mercenary or soldier.

"The Greybeards seem to think you're the Dragonborn. I hope they're right." She spoke calmly, a clear indicator of her control over this conversation.

"What do you want with me?" Tor bluntly asked, he was in no mood for games.

"I didn't go to all this trouble on a whim. I needed to make sure it wasn't a Thalmor trap. I'm not your enemy. I already gave you the horn. I'm actually trying to help you. I just need you to hear me out," she reasoned with him.

"What's with all the cloak and dagger?" came the suspicious question from the Nord, this normally meant he was about to be jumped by a few people.

"You can't be too careful. Thalmor spies are everywhere," came her cryptic answer, though with that, Tor's patience had run out.

"You'd better start explaining. Fast." he calmly threatened.

"I'll explain what I want when I want, got it? You'd already be dead if I didn't like the look of you when you walked in he-," she was cut off.

"DO NOT TEST MY PATIENCE WRETCH, EITHER SPEAK OR BE SILENCED" Tor boomed as lightning danced across his body. Delphine swallowed and swiftly continued her explanation.

"I had to know if the rumors about you were true, I'm part of a group that's been looking for you... well, someone like you, for a very long time. If you really are Dragonborn, that is. Before I tell you any more, I need to make sure I can trust you," she spoke quickly, Tor body still sparked.

"Aye? And the part you're not telling me?" came his growl.

"Dragons aren't just coming back, they're coming back to life. They weren't gone somewhere for all these years. They were dead, killed off centuries ago by my predecessors. Now something's happening to bring them back to life. And I need you to help me stop it." she spoke freely, cutting the heart of the matter.

"What makes you think dragons are coming back to life?" The sparks died off as Tor absorbed this information and asked his question.

"I know they are. I've visited their ancient burial mounds and found them empty. And I've figured out where the next one will come back to life. We're going to go there, and you're going to kill that dragon. If we succeed, I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"How did you figure all this out?" Tor inquired, curious as to how she could possibly know this.

"You should know. You got the map for me. The dragonstone you got for Farengar, remember? The dragonstone was a map of ancient dragon burial sites. I've looked at which ones are now empty. The pattern is pretty clear. It seems to be spreading from the southeast, down in the Jeralls near Riften. The one at Kynesgrove is next if the pattern holds." As she explained, the pieces fell into place, but that was a matter for another time.

"Then, my lady, where are we headed?"

"Kynesgrove. There's an ancient dragon burial near there. If we can get there before it happens, maybe we'll learn how to stop it." She hoped it would be a boon to them if that was the case.

"I know that mound - high on the hill east of Kynesgrove." Tor voiced, remembering the times he had hunted near there.

"Good. Good. Now we won't have to spend time searching for it. We should get moving. There's no time to waste," an urgency Tor understood entered her voice.

"Agreed. Let's go kill a dragon." Tor boldly announced.

"I need to get into my traveling gear. Give me a minute and I'll be ready. Then we'll get on the road to Kynesgrove." She was quick to inform and it made sense, only a fool would take a dragon on with no armor.

Tor left and allowed Delphine her privacy, a gesture she appreciated. After she was geared up, they left the inn in seperate ways, Tor drew Mjølnir as he walked to the edge of the city, and began to spin it.

Once more he took to the skies, flying north towards Kynesgrove. His eyes widened as he had just enough time to brace as a shadow knocked him from the sky, rolling as he plummeted he spun Mjølnir just enough to slow his decent so that he did not creator the ground on impact.

Rising and sprinting, he was intercepted by a woman screaming, "No, you don't want to go up there! A dragon... it's attacking!"

"A dragon is attacking Kynesgrove. Tell me, where is this dragon?" he asked calmly, masking his anger at having been knocked out of the sky again.

"It flew over the town and landed on the old dragon burial mound. I don't know what it's doing, but I'm not waiting around to find out!" and with that declaration she ran, in the direction of Solitude.

Tor raced up to where he could see the dragon and froze. It was the beast from Helgin. What was it doing here? So shocked by this, he almost did not notice the beast speaking again.

"Sahloknir, ziil gro dovah ulse! Slen Tiid Vo!" it roared. Tor could not understand it fully but he did understand some of it, as he could feel the world warping under the dragon's power, he could feel the might behind each word.

The stone lid on the burial mound shattered outward, allowing a dragonic skeleton to emerge with a roar and step out before turning his attention to the other dragon as his body rejuvenates over his skeleton

"Alduin, thuri! Boaan tiid vokriiha suleyksejun kruziik?" it spoke, Tor growled lowly, he wished he could understand this. He did get one thing though, the Black Dragon's name it was _Alduin _merely thinking the word caused a ripple of _something _to happen.

"Geh, Sahloknir, kaali mir. Ful, losei Dovahkiin? Zu'u koraav nid nol dov do hi. You do not even know our tongue, do you? Such arrogance, to dare take for yourself the name of Dovah." Alduin taunted the Dragonborn before continuing

"Sahloknir, krii fin joor." the great beast flew away, leaving Tor face to face with a beast that outclassed the other dragons he's fought by a wide margin.

* * *

**Preview**:

"This truly is a Bastards work," he grumbled as he snapped the neck of another Thalmor Justiciar.


	5. Chapter 5 Elfs, Parties and Man hunts

Tor moved, Mjølnir wreathed in lightning as he hurled it at the scaled monster. "YOL! TOOR! SHU-," the beast was cut off at the impact, its flames never touching the Nord.

Tor, wielding Nature's Fury, landed a punch that could fell a giant. It blew the beasts head away but Tor barely had enough time to react to the tail that smashed into his side, sending him skidding back.

He rotated, calling Mjølnir to his hand, and with the momentum slammed the hammer into the lunging beats neck sending it into a roll.

With a growl, the beast shot into the sky and roared "YOL! TOOR! SHUL!", dragonfire began to rain down on Tor. Spinning Mjølnir around, Tor was able to block some of the deadly flames, but was steadily being overpowered by them.

So Mjølnir was thrown up and the battle became a deadly skydance. Wind and Thunder battled Frost and Flame as the two soared, neither able to land a decisive blow. Their battle raged across the sky till Tor was able to land his own Shout.

"FUS! RO! DAH!" the wave of force propelled Tor back, but it knocked the dragon from the sky and into the ground below. Though, not before the beast was able to do the same to Tor.

Delphine witnessed a fight that would stay with her for the rest of her life, and she firmly decided to stay on Tor's good side.

For she stood witness to the man, rising from a crater he had made. The crash would have killed a lesser man, and still he lunged at the dragon.

With the roar of thunder in his soul, and the song of battle in his blood, Tor grabbed the great beast by its tail and mustering all his might began to drag it. Slowly at first but Tor was soon spinning the mighty beast, with a roar he threw it against a mountain.

Some boulders and rocks were dislodged and fell a top it. Tor leaned over, attempting to catch his breath, but this cost him.

The beast emerged from its earthen prison and lunged, snapping its jaws onto his arm and hurling him into a rocky slope. Enraged, Tor waited for the beast to close in on him then tearing a boulder the size of his chest from the slope, he slammed it into the beasts eye.

It's agonised cry and diminished vision meant it did not see the Hammer, but it heard the roll of Thunder, it felt the shift in the wind, it smelled the ozone in the air, and tasted metal on the winds.

"HAVE AT THEE, BEAST!" he roared as he slammed Mjølnir into the dragon's head, knocking it over and letting Tor rise from his down position. The dragons still form allowed him raise Mjølnir above his head.

He began to spin it by the strap, and as thunder roared to life, Seidr and Magicka danced in unison as Tor called on Nature's Fury once more.

Lightning descended from the sky as Tor skillfully pulled Mjølnir into his hand, and with a thrust, unleashed his storm onto his opponent, charing its scales and causing it to roar with indescribable pain.

Halting the thunderous torrent, Tor hurled Mjølnir at the beast once more. Its weakened body did little to provide resistance to the Mighty Hammer, the residual Lightning cleaning it of the dragons blood.

Tor collapsed, this Dragon had been powerful, more so than the other two. His laboured breathing and bloody arm were both proof enough of that. He lay there for a while, allowing Delphine to catch up to him.

"I'll be damned, you did it! That was well done. Come on. I've been wanting a closer look at one of these buggers. Wait. Something's happening... gods above! So you really are... I... it's true, isn't it? You really are Dragonborn." as she spoke, Tor mustered the strength to march over to the dragon, allowing him to absorb its life.

"I owe you some answers, don't I? Go ahead. Whatever you want to know. Nothing held back," an almost reverent tone was in her voice as she verbally laid herself bare.

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" Tor cut straight to the heart of the matter, he was in no mood for word games.

"I'm one of the last members of the Blades. A very long time ago, the Blades were dragonslayers, and we served the Dragonborn, the greatest dragonslayer." she began to explain.

"For the last two hundred years, since the last Dragonborn emperor, the Blades have been searching for a purpose. Now that dragons are coming back, our purpose is clear again. We need to stop them." she spoke with fierce determination.

"The Blades? Who are they?" Tor asked, while no history buff, these days he tended to be more knowledgeable than most.

"Exactly. Nobody even remembers our name these days. We used to be known across Tamriel as the protectors of the Septim Emperors." Tor was confused, Delphine could not have been old enough to have lived those days. So why was she nostalgic for something she had never known.

"Those days are long gone, though. For the last two hundred years, we've been searching for the next Dragonborn to guide and guard, as we are sworn to do. But we never found one. Until now." She was once again filled that fierce determination, though her veiled bloodlust was… concerning.

"What do you know about the dragons coming back?" he shifted topics to keep the conversation going. There were still more important things to deal with.

"Not a damn thing. I was just as surprised as you to find that big black dragon here," the woman revealed. Then she noticed a contemplative look on his face, "What is it, Tor?"

"I've seen that dragon before, the one that got away, the one this one called Alduin," he revealed as the air around them shuddered.

"Really? Where?" she asked, curious as to how he could have seen said dragon.

"It was the one that attacked Helgen, when Ulfric escaped from the Imperials," Tor eye's closed as the roars and screams visited him once more.

"Interesting. Same dragon…" she pondered for a few moments before she spat out, "Damn it, we're blundering around in the dark here! We need to figure out who's behind it all!"

"So then my lady, what's our next move?" came the question from Tor, both of them could feel a change coming and both sought to be able to withstand its effects.

"The first thing we need to do is figure out who's behind the dragons. The Thalmor are our best lead. If they aren't involved, they'll know who is," Delphine stated, Tor eyes narrowed at the venom, but this was not the time for a confrontation.

"What makes you think the Thalmor are bringing dragons back?" he questioned, any leads at this point was a good thing regardless of origin.

"Nothing solid. Yet. But my gut tells me it can't be anybody Empire had captured Ulfric. The war was basically over. Then a dragon attacks, Ulfric escapes, and the war is back on." she began, making valid points.

"And now the dragons are attacking everywhere, indiscriminately. Skyrim is weakened, the Empire is weakened. Who else gains from that but the Thalmor?" a valid question, at least she was not totally blinded by hate, but still Tor was concerned by her venom.

"So we need to find out what the Thalmor know about the dragons," Tor pondered aloud "Any ideas?" he questioned his companion.

"If we could get into the Thalmor Embassy... it's the center of their operations in Skyrim... problem is, that place is locked up tighter than a miser's purse." she pondered before ideally noting "They could teach me a few things about paranoia..."

"So how do we get into the Thalmor Embassy? I take it knocking down their doors is not what you want to do" Tor asked, while he could do it, it would not be a pleasant or easy experience.

"I'm not sure yet. I have a few ideas, but I'll need some time - maybe even days to pull things together... meet me back in Riverwood in a week and we'll talk."

"Keep an eye on the sky. This is only going to get worse," she spoke before making her way to a nearby stable to purchase a cart home.

Tor stood alone, pondering what lies ahead. A pulse from Mjølnir head him humming in agreement, the Dragon's, Alduin's taunt was true, he needed to master their language. But first he needed to store this skeleton.

* * *

Tor spent the week traveling the length and breadth of Skyrim. Using the Greybeards to locate and learn the various shouts hidden across the land. Along the way he fought many more dragons.

One would think this would be an exciting tale of heroism and battle, but it was almost monotonous. Most of them involved something along these lines; find tomb fight through hoards of Draugr, find word wall. Or it was climb mountain and fight dragon to safely view the word wall.

Still, his mastery over the dragon language grew with every shout; he began to understand it more and more, even speaking in it to the other Greybeards. He had named his Dragonic power Lah for there was no word in the mortal tongue for it.

The upside of this was the impressive amount of spells and enchantments he had learned, all helping to make him even more deadly.

* * *

Soon the week was over, Tor stood before the Riverwood Inn adorned in enchanted Dragonplate Armor, a testament to his skills as an enchanter. As he entered the Riverwood Inn, Delphine sauntered up to him.

"Oh my, it's been too long since you were here, are you looking to _stay the night? _" Tor was impressed, had he not known her true profession he would have never guessed that she was anything more than an amorous innkeeper.

"Aye my lady, I am. Hopefully with excellent company," he replied, let these people think what they want, this was too important. Once more he found himself admiring the sway of her hips as they walked into her room.

"I don't think you were followed. Come on. I have a plan."

Once the preparations were complete, Mjølnir pulsed in indignation causing Tor to suppress a chuckle; she had been very vocal in her dislike of Delphine.

"I've figured out how we're going to get you into the Thalmor Embassy." She stated triumphantly.

"Oh, You're not coming?" came his question, he could guess as to why but he needed to confirm it first.

"That would be a bad idea. I'd be too likely to attract the wrong kind of attention. But they don't know you at all, yet," she confirmed his suspicion.

"That didn't take long," he ideally commented.

"I've been doing this for a long time, remember? While the Thalmor's been looking for me, I've been watching them," an almost smug tone filled her voice.

"And yes, you probably could smash their doors down but by the time you got inside, whatever documents they had would be long gone," she explained why Tor could not go knocking.

"Fair enough," Tor agreed, then asked "So what's your plan? How do I infiltrate the Thalmor Embassy?"

"The Thalmor ambassador, Elenwen, regularly throws parties where the rich and connected cozy up to the Thalmor. I can get you into one of those parties," she revealed her plan. "Once you're inside the Embassy, you get away and find Elenwen's secret files," she reinforced the point.

"I have a contact inside the Embassy. He's not up for this kind of high-risk mission, but he can help you," she explained, before revealing her contact "His name's Malborn. Wood elf, plenty of reason to hate the Thalmor. You can trust him," she soothed

"I'll get word for him to meet you in Solitude, at the Winking Skeever - you know it? While you're doing that, I'll work on getting you an invitation to Elenwen's little party," she planned.

"Meet me at the Solitude stables after you've arranged things with Malborn. Any questions?"

"Who's this contact of yours? You're sure I can trust him?" Tor questioned in concern, it would be all too easy for this to go horribly.

"Don't worry about Malborn. He's not a dangerous character like you, but he hates the Thalmor at least as much as I do," she began to explain, and continued with "He's a wood elf - the Thalmor wiped out his family back in Valenwood during one of their purges that we never hear about."

"Luckily they don't know who he really is, or he wouldn't be serving drinks at the Ambassador's parties," she commented ideally.

"How am I going to get into this party?" Tor asked the obvious Question, and the most important at the moment.

"Let me handle that. You'll have a real invitation, don't worry. As long as you can act the part of a Thalmor toadie, you'll get past the guards." Delphine eased his worries. "Though a name, you'll need a name - a fake one so they don't know you"

"Loki Sifson," an indistinct memory telling him the name to use, Mjølnir seemed to pulse in approval of this.

"That was fast, guess you've thought about this," she commented before moving on.

"Once I'm inside the Embassy, then what?" he questioned.

"That's when the fun starts. You'll have to slip away from the party without raising the alarm. Then you'll need to find Elenwen's office and search her files. Malborn should be able to point you in the right direction." came the woman's explanation.

"I'll see you in Solitude after I meet Malborn." Tor spoke as he began to leave.

"Sounds good. Be careful." she cautioned.

Waiting out the night in a separate room to keep the illusion of their affair going, Tor used the enchanters table to create some armor more fitting for the situation he was about to enter, as well as practicing the bound weapons spells.

* * *

It was a short flight to Solitude, Tor landed away from its stables and walked the rest of the way, he did not wish to arouse suspicion, so concealed his Hammer and wore regular clothes.

Entering the city, he witnessed the death of one of their own. It revolted him at the joy they displayed at this event. Still he kept his head down and moved towards the 'Winking Skeever' tavern.

His eyes quickly located the only Bosmer or Wood Elf in there, with nonchalance he approached him.

"Yes?" the elf asked

"Our mutual friend sent me, said you knew your way the drinks here." Tor spoke, his cover was spotty at best and would not hold up under scrutiny but it served its purposes here.

"Ah, yes, what you you like to try?" he asked and soon both sat at a table with a few drinks, the real conversation begins now.

"Really? You're who she picked? I hope she knows what she's doing," the Bosmer muttered, Tor suppressed a flash of irritation, now was not the time for it.

"Here's the deal. I can smuggle some equipment into the Embassy for you. Don't plan on bringing anything else in with you. The Thalmor take security very seriously," he spoke, seriously informing the soon-to-be spy of the trials he would soon face.

"I'm ready to go. Give me what you can't live without, and I'll make sure to get it into the Embassy. The rest is up to you." he continued, Tor nooded.

"I'm ready. Here's what I'll need." he spoke, handing over a set of enchanted Vampire Armor of dark emerald, along with a hood and mask all giving a soft glow of enchantments. At the raised eyebrow, Tor explained.

"These are enchanted to be very durable and powerful. They will also aid me in moving around silently," the Bosmer nodded, before adding "I could probably carry a weapon in as well. Would you like me to?"

Tor merely conjured a deep purple translucent knife where only the Bosmer could see, and with a nod the conversation moved on.

"Okay. I'll get this inside the Embassy for you. I've got to go. I'll find you at the party, don't worry," he was quick to absorb the information and began to move, time was of the essence after all.

Tor moved as swiftly as he could without attention to himself, and exited the city. It was only minutes before he found Delphine.

"Have you given Malborn the gear you want to smuggle into the embassy?" came her question, Tor understood her anxiousness.

"Yes, Malborn's all set." he calmly stated.

"Good," she spoke then continued with "I have your invitation to the party. But the only way you're going to get past the guards is if they really believe you're an invited guest." here she handed him some clothes.

"Which means you need to look the part, and not be armed to the teeth." she explained, Tor nodded, using the back of the Tower to change quickly.

"When you're ready, I'll keep the rest of your gear safe until you get back. You'll only have what Malborn smuggled in for you, plus whatever you can pick up inside," she explained the limitations of his predicament.

Tor nodded. He had prepared as much as possible but it all hinged on his performance now. It was extra nerve wracking was not having Mjølnir at his side - she was too known now.

"Hmm. I guess that will have to do. You should pass for a real guest, at least until you open your mouth. Ready to board the carriage to the embassy?" she reluctantly approved of his outfit, it was a good as could be but his was to obviously built for it to be completely effective.

"I'm ready. Keep the rest of my things safe for me." he said, handing over his satchels and packs, this included Mjølnir who pulsed a goodbye at him.

"Don't worry, it will all be waiting for you when you get back. Just make sure you get back out of there alive with the information we need," she soothed before wishing him, "Good luck."

* * *

"Ah! A fellow latecomer to Elewen's soiree," a voice spoke as Tor dismounted the carriage he had taken to reach this place. The voice continued, "And arriving by carriage no less! I salute you, Sir!" Tor turned and saw a Redguard man garbbed in merchant clothes.

"My lateness is due more to getting lost on the way up this gods forsaken mountain than to any desire to actually arrive late. I prefer to arrive early. Often the day before the party. So as not to miss out on any of the drinking." said man continued, Tor letting a low chuckle out, he was quite the character it seemed.

"There's not enough drinking in the world today, wouldn't you agree? I will just... rest here a moment. Although it is damnable cold out here. I don't look forward to the trip back down…" the man complained.

"Perhaps we might share a carriage after the party? I know, I know - we've just met. But think, by the time the party is over we'll no doubt be fast friends. I look forward to it. I'll go after you. Although these fellows know me. I never miss one of Elenwen's parties, you see." Tor remained silent as he approached the door.

After proving he possessed an invitation he was admitted entrance into the party, where he was stopped by an Altmer or High Elf, she was adorned in Thalmor robes and gloves.

"Welcome. I don't believe we've met. I am Elenwen, the Thalmor Ambassador to Skyrim. And you are...?" she trailed off, hoping to urge Tor into speech.

"My name is Loki Sifson. Pleased to meet you," he lied smoothly, the cover name leaving his lips with an ease that surprised him.

"Ah yes. I remember your name from the guest list. Please, tell me more about yourself. What brings you to this... to Skyrim?" she asked, Tor could tell she was suspicious of him and were it not for the timely intervention of Malborn he could have screwed it up.

"Madame Ambassador, I'm so sorry to interrupt..." came his voice, polite and subservient, just fitting for this line of work.

"What is it, Malborn?" she questioned in annoyance, Tor used this opportunity to move away. Moving towards one of the benches, and taking a drink of water. He could still hear the conversation between the two elves.

"It's just that we've run out of the Alto wine. Do I have your permission to uncork the Arenthia red..." he was cut off here by Elenwen, "Of course. I've told you before not to bother me with such trifles," her annoyance was palpable.

"Yes, Madame Ambassador." he demurred, Tor waited for Elenwen to move on before approaching the Bosmer.

"What can I get for you?" he asked aloud before switching to a whisper as Tor looked over a list of drinks they had.

"You made it in. Good. As soon as you distract the guards, I'll open this door and we can get you on your way." Tor noted the urgency in his voice.

"I'm ready." Tor murmured, the noise of the party meaning only the Bosmer heard those words.

"I'd like a Drink" Tor requested aloud, already setting up a plan.

"Here you go, sir. The finest Colovian brandy." He handed the Nord his drink, Tor took and carried it by the top.

"Do you have any," he asked aloud, letting the elf have the perfect excuse to move to the door.

"Of course. Let me see if we have another bottle of that," came the aloud response before he whispered, "I'll be waiting by the door for everyone to be distracted."

"What does a fellow need to do to get a drink around here? Ah, pardon me, friend. I didn't see you standing there. Allow me to introduce myself: Razelan. Imports and exports, by trade. Observer of human nature, by avocation," the Redguard from before, Razelan introduced him.

"You look like you need a drink," Tor observed.

"My friend, you are very perceptive! I have a powerful thirst that cannot be slaked! And none of the waiters will bring me a drink, Elenwen must have told them to cut me off, the frigid bitch. Afraid I'll cause another scene, I suppose..." Razelan groaned, Tor found himself relating, this looked to be a dull one.

"Here, I brought you a drink." Tor handed him the Colovian brandy over to the Redguard.

"Ah, the one generous soul amongst a gathering of pinch-pennies and lick-spittles! If there's anything I can ever do for you, do not hesitate to call upon me!" Razelan promised.

"Actually, there is something you could do for me." Tor kept his head down, and spoke quietly, he needed to leave as little evidence as possible.

"Of course! I would do anything for you, my one and truest friend! What do you need from me?" came the grand reply.

"I need you to cause a scene. Get everyone's attention for a few minutes." came the request.

"Is that all? My friend, you've come to the right person. You could say that causing a scene is somewhat of a specialty of mine. Stand back and behold my handiwork," Tor hid a smirk as Razelan stood up.

Hearing the Redguard begin to cause a scene, Tor locked eyes with Malborn and both moved out of the hall, into an area between them.

"So far so good, let's hope no one saw us slip out," Malborn relaxed for a moment, before continuing, "We need to pass through the kitchen. Your gear is in the larder."

"Just stay close and let me do the talking, got it?" he asked the Dragonborn, before opening the door to the kitchen. When they entered, they were greeted by a Khajiit cook who though angry at them was persuaded to leave them alone by the Bosmer's blackmail.

"Your gear is in the chest. I'll lock the door behind you. Don't screw this up," he said, Tor glared at that last line, he was tired of this elf's disrespect. But it was another matter for time. He dressed in his amour, wearing a hood and mask to cover his face.

"I need to lock the door behind you, or the patrols might notice something's wrong," and with that, Tor was free to begin his mission.

He crept silently to the open door, where he heard some Thalmor soldiers complaining about some mages being brought in, before making a dark joke about a Dragon killing them. "Maybe not the mages but a dragon will claim elven blood," he spoke.

Both were slow to react, a dagger of ethereal energy stabbed through the left one's throat, as Tor summoned a sword and stabbed the remaining one's chest, he allowed it to fade as the dead elf fell backwards.

Moving both bodies so that they were out of the way, he made his way up the stairs, a mage noticed him all too late. After he had checked everywhere he could, moved his way outside, before he could leave though he heard another agent walk into the room with the corpses inside.

With a bow of the same energy of the sword and dagger in his hands he fires an arrow into one of the Justiciar's head, before rushing and capturing the other in a headlock "This truly is a Bastards work," he grumbled as he snapped the neck of another Thalmor Justiciar.

The courtyard was full of their agents, so Tor tread lightly - his enchanted armor eliminating almost all of his sounds. It was difficult but he was able to get into the other building entirely undetected.

As he searches for the information he needed he overheard a conversation between a Thalmor agent and one of his informants. Apparently they were searching for an old man, why though?

Tor found dossiers on Delphine, Ulfric and the dragons, but no information on Alduin, meaning they weren't behind it, but maybe they had a lead.

He snuck down stairs, and into the bassment and captured the torturer in a headlock.

"You're looking for someone, why?" he snarled out, the mask distorting his voice enough to be almost Daedric in sound.

"You'll never know," Tor allowed the elf to go free before striking him with a vicious right handed blow. He grabbed the elf and raised him high.

"Don't make me ask again."

The way his armour reflected the light and his strength scared the torturer.

"We're looking for a man named...Esbern" the elf choked out, his face turning purple, "He….knows…..something...about…..the…. dragons, that's all I know…..I swear"

**CRUNCH**

Freeing the prisoner - one Etienne Rarnis, who told him the old man was a Blade in the rataways of Riften, giving Tor a lead. The prisoner was able to show him to a trap door, a place where he said the bodies went to.

Tor was able to get keys for the 'disposal' tunnel, but as he returned, he sensed something in the air, he dodged behind a wall but this meant that Etienne's life was forfeit. "We have your spy, Blade, come out if you want to see his life saved."

Tor cast a cloning spell, before turning invisible. The clone went out to distract them while he snuck behind them.

"Calm yourself elf, there is no need for bloodshed" the clone spoke

"There has been Altmer blood spilled, Blade, your blood shall avenge them," came the vengeful snarl.

Tor was behind them now. There were 5 of them, all with their backs turned to him. His invisibility faded as a sword of ethereal energy appeared in his hand. Clutching the first one's mouth, he plunged to sword through his chest.

The remaining four turned but were slow. Tor's foot smashed against one of the females, sending her into the wall head first, her neck audibly snapped. A bound dagger materialised in his hand just in time to be buried in another Thalmor's head.

Catching a downward swing form a swordswoman, he disarmed her and stabbed her with her own blade. The final one, holding Marlborn hostage was terrified as Tor approached him. With speed supernatural, Tor's hand clamped around the Altmer's neck.

"You should have taken my offer of mercy," Tor snarled out.

**CRUNCH**

"Are you alright, Malborn?" he asked the traumatised Bosmer, who looked deathly pale and shook like winter itself had taken his form.

"Y-yeah, let's just get out of here," he stuttered out, the excitement leaving his system.

"There is a small mill near here, I shall take you there, so that I might arm you," Tor said. It was his and Delphine's fault that he would now need to run.

"T-thank you" he said, and with that they descended into the tunnel, a frost trolls lair.

Lightning sparked along his arms as he engaged the beast in hand to hand, with merely 4 thunderous blows the beast was dead and their escape complete.

As promised, they headed to the mill where Tor would spend the night modifying the glass amor into something that the Thalmor would not recognize.

"So, to Riften I go huh?" Tor mused quietly as he rode the carriage back to Riverwood, the Den of Thieves awaits.

* * *

**Preview**:

"When Helgin was attacked, I ...reached out for something, and Mjølnir was unable to come to me, so she awoke power that lay dormant within me"

* * *

**Omake**:

"...not be armed to the teeth." she explained, though she was befuddled when Tor laughed and launched into the sky.

Hours later, Tor showed up at the Riverwood Inn, both alive and informed.

"Delphine, the Thalmor are looking for someone called Esbern"

"Wait, how did you get this information so quickly"

"Well you see, I..."

Tor stood laughing almost maniacally over the destroyed headquarters, the guests, Thalmor agents and even staff all crying as he destroyed one thing after another.

"...and then I found the information we needed in a thieves guild member, so after I had gotten the information I needed I obviously killed him. Now it's time to head to Riften!"


	6. Chapter 6 Blades in the Theives den

The return to Riverwood was long, taking 3 days; 3 days of bandit and vampire attacks. Tor was forced to draw on more and more power to defend the carriage - he had always had plentiful reserves of Magicka, now even Altmer were not his equal.

When they finally reached Riverwood, Tor payed for the driver's stay in the inn; after the journey they had been on it was the least he could do for the poor Nord.

A tweaked Pacify spell to make the patrons ignore him, allowing him to venture into Delphines room unnoticed. He did not have the patience to deal with their sexual jesting right now, and Delphine needed this information.

Venturing down into her hidden office, Delphine open the conversation with line of "You made it out alive, at least. Your gear's safe in my room, as promised. Did you learn anything useful?"

"The Thalmor know nothing about the dragons." Tor spoke, while retrieving his gear, Mjølnir pulsing with warmth in his hand. A flash of Magicka had his Dragonplate Armor back on.

"Really? That seems hard to believe. You're sure about that?" came Delphine's disbelieving voice.

Tor merely glanced over to her with a deadpan look in his eyes, silently asking a question about her motivations.

"You're right, you're right. I just... I was sure it must have been them. If not the Thalmor, who? Or... what?" Delphine sighed out, disappointment and frustration coloured her voice.

"Yes, I'm sure. Thought this was not without its own rewards," at Delphines look he continued with "They're looking for someone named Esbern."

"Esbern? He's alive? I thought the Thalmor must have got him years ago. That crazy old man…" she paused her, reminiscing about a comrade of old before continuing, "Figures the Thalmor would be on his trail, though, if they were trying to find out what's going on with the dragons."

"What would the Thalmor want with this... Esbern?" Tor asked. Delphine had called him an old man, so why would the Thalmor want someone past their prime?

"You mean, aside from wanting to kill every Blade they can lay their hands on? Esbern was one of the Blades archivists, back before the Thalmor smashed us during the Great War," bitterness coloured her voice here, she hated talking about this.

"He knew everything about the ancient Dragon-Lore of the Blades. Obsessed with it, really. Nobody paid much attention back then. I guess he wasn't as crazy as we all thought," she reminisced, events and memories playing out before her eyes.

"In the finest of ironies, the Thalmor think the Blades know about the dragons…"

"Is that so? The old enemies assume that every calamity must be a plot by the other side…" Delphine spoke, her voice leaden with self-aware amusement, she was quick to get back on topic though, "Even so, we've got to find Esbern before they do. He'll know how to stop the dragons if anybody does. Do they know where he is?"

"They seem to think he's hiding out in Riften," came the firm statement from the male Nord.

"Riften, eh? Probably down in the Ratway, then. It's where I'd go. You'd better get to Riften." she began, "Talk to Brynjolf. He's... well-connected. A good starting point at least," she continued, disdain clear in her voice.

"Oh, and when you find Esbern... if you think I'm paranoid... you may have some trouble getting him to trust you. Just ask him where he was on the 30th of Frostfall. He'll know what it means," She informed him as Tor began to leave.

* * *

Launching into the sky with Mjølnir, Tor flew southeast towards the Den of Thieves. As always, he landed away from the city; he did not want to risk a landing in a populated area.

As he approached the gate, one of the guards stopped him with the line of "Hold There."

"Before I let you in to Riften, you need to pay the visitor's tax," he declared and looked at Tor expectantly.

"Tax?" A bored tone in his voice as well as a raised brow caused the guard to sweat lightly, he was just now realising that Tor was a big Nord.

"For the privilege of entering the city." he stammered before becoming aggressive, "What does it matter?"

"Nay, Thief, I will pay no tax, stand aside or be moved aside" Tor calmly informed, and with a single meaning step towards the other Nord, the guards resolve broke.

"ALL RIGHT! ALL RIGHT, no need for violence over a joke...right?" he asked, seeing Tor's deadpan look made him quickly add, "Here I'll let you in," he quickly walked towards the gate and unlocked it.

"The gate's unlocked." he declared as he moved back to his original position. "You can head inside when your ready." He tried to play off the intimidation, but was clearly still shaken from it.

He had barely made it four steps in a rough looking man approached him, with a scowl on his face, probably looking to imitate him.

"I don't know you. You in Riften lookin' for trouble?" he growled menacingly. Tor was not impressed.

"You do not intimidate me, sir, now leave."

"That's the wrong answer. Last thing the Black-Briars need around here is some troublemaker tryin' to steal a piece of the action," came the snarl from this man. He drew a deep breath and spoke again "The Black-Briars have Riften in their pocket and the Thieves Guild watchin' their back, so keep your nose out of their business."

"Me? I'm Maul. I watch the streets for 'em. If you need dirt on anythin', I'm your guy... but it'll cost you." he stated to the Dragonborn. Tor merely narrowed his eyes.

"Nahlot Nikriin, how about you tell me for free?" he asked as lightning danced in his eyes as the world shook from the use of Dragon Tongue. Maul's aggression died in an instant, he quickly realised this was not a fight he was winning.

"All right, all right, let's not get too hasty now. So what do you want to know?" He was quick to offer his assistance to Tor after that little show, he wanted no part of _that _!

After Tor had acquired the information on the Ratway and Ratway Warrens, he left Maul and began heading for through the plaza when another Nord approached him.

"Never done an honest day's work in your life for all that coin you carry, eh lad?" he spoke, a tone of smug suaveness, Tor already didn't like him.

"Begone, Thief, I have no time for you," he declared as he continued onwards.

The Nord with quick steps was in front of him, blocking his path. "I'm told you're looking for so-" he began to speak, to negotiate and broker a deal before cut him off.

"You try my patience, Thief, leave or be silenced," Tor declared as he walked again, a flash of lightning in his eyes halted the Nord in his tracks, and Tor was free to progress unhindered.

Soon, he found the door to the Ratway, and with a fortifying breath he entered and began his descent into the labyrinthine corridors of Riften's bowels.

* * *

Navigating the maze like structure was… a challenge not helped by the smells that bombarded Tor with every step. Still, he persevered and found the Ragged Flagon.

He felt the eyes of everyone there lock on to him as he walked to the doors leading to the warrens when he was interrupted by an Imperial resembling Maul.

"Unless you wish to aid me, step aside," pausing for breath here Tor spoke again, "I'm looking for someone - an Old man," Tor spoke seriously, he was in no mood to deal with thieves or their ilk.

"That's interesting. Why do I care? You want a drink, or maybe just a few broken bones?" came the threatening response form the Imperial, something Tor smirked at.

"I can break some of your bones if that's what it's going to take…" Tor trailed off, inviting the other male to make the first move.

"Yeah. That's what it's going to take," he spoke before slamming his right fist into Tor's head.

Tor grinned at the look of terror on the other man's face when his head did not move much, his left fist collided with his opponents chest and launched him into the wall behind. Walking towards the downed Imperial, Tor grabbed him by his leather armor and dragged him to his feet.

Tor's arms cannonballed into the side of the Imperial's head bouncing it off the wall twice over before the Imperial recovered and launched his own left at Tor, with a backwards sway Tor brought his right arm across his opponent one more time.

"hah…hah…You're tougher…hah...hah...than you...hah...look. Y...hah...You got...hah...me, fa...hah...fair...hah...and...hah...square," he panted out, his breath coming out in short painful gasps.

"Now, where's Esbern?" Tor asked, his downed opponent took a moment to recover his breath.

"He lives somewhere in the Ratway Warrens." he paused before commenting "Must be crazy or desperate to live down there. Maybe both." Though he winced at the look Tor gave him. He was quick to correct Tor's path and with that Tor Moved onwards.

* * *

The Warrens smelled even worse. Tor took a moment to steady himself, "I am definitely washing my armor after this," he murmed - he had resolved to bathe after earlier, but it was almost like the filth of this place was mixed with the air itself.

Still, he was able to adjust and move forward; now was not the time for such petty, though necessary concerns.

He had just turned a corner when he saw a Thalmor agent, he was quick to move slamming an electrically charged blow into the elf's chest.

She was dead before she hit the ground, one of the Justicitor's ran at him with sword drawn - only to met with a Seidr boosted Thunderbolt spell.

Tor grunted as he felt an Arrow pierce his shoulder, he turned a bound knife appearing in his hand as he hurled it at the Thalmor Archer, who in a moment of sheer elven skill shot the dagger out of the air, a feat he could not repeat for the Lightning spell that came next.

With that dealt with, he was able to move on. Finding a door that was impressive locked, he figured that this was his targets home. Knocking on the door he was answered by a shout of "Go away!" from inside.

"Esbern? Open the door. I'm a friend." Tor tried, yes had killed some Thalmor agent but only a fool would say he had killed them all.

"What?! No, that's not me. I'm not Esbern. I don't know what you're talking about." came the answer.

"It's okay. Delphine sent me." Tor continued, he was hoping this would prove it to him.

"Delphine? How do you... so you've finally found her, and she led you to me. And here I am, caught like a rat in a trap," he said bitterly.

His patience at its limit. Tor let out a mighty curse, "RUTH!" The room shook as he sharply inhaled. Tor spoke, "Listen old man, I'm the Dragonborn. Or at least the only known one."

"What's that you said? Dragonborn? Then... there really is hope after all?" the almost reverent look was gratifying but now was not the time for it. "You'd better come inside. Quickly now, Thalmor agents have been seen in the Ratway." Esbern continued.

Tor turned around and began scanning around, looking for Thalmor threat all the while the old man worked to open his barricaded door.

"This'll just take a moment..." Esbern said before murmuring "This one always sticks... there we go." and "Only a couple more." The sounds of clicks and rolls of locks coming undone soon echoed.

Unfortunately, it attracted the wrong kind of attention not helped by the shout of "There we are!" two people, dressed in rags raced towards Tor, who growled lowly and with arms bathed in lightning clotheslined them.

"Come in, come in! Make yourself at home." Esbern said as Tor stepped over the ash piles of their remains as he made his way into the 'house'.

"That's better. Now we can talk." Esbern started, before commenting "So Delphine keeps up the fight, after all these years. I thought she'd have realised it's hopeless by now. I tried to tell her, years ago..." he trailed off in idle remembrance.

"The Thalmor have found you. We have to get out of here," Tor urged the elder Blade; remembrance could come when the Thalmor weren't all over them.

"Yes, yes, so you said. But so what? The end is upon us. I may as well die here as anywhere else. I'm tired of running," the old man said bitterly; Tor was both frustrated and sympathetic towards him.

"What do you mean, 'the end is upon us'?" he questioned, casting detect life and frowning at the alarming number of armored people heading towards them.

"Haven't you figured it out yet? What more needs to happen before you all wake up and see what's going on? Alduin has returned, just like the prophecy said!" he shouted, angered at Tor's ignorance.

Taking a calming breath, he continued, "The Dragon from the dawn of time, who devours the souls of the dead! No one can escape his hunger, here or in the afterlife! Alduin will devour all things and the world will end." he paused here to take another breath.

"Nothing can stop him. I tried to tell them. They wouldn't listen. Fools. It's all come true... all I could do was watch our doom approach..." he trailed off, becoming more and more distraught as he spoke.

"Alduin the Black Dragon, the beast who's raising the others?" Tor asked for clarification.

"Yes, yes! You see, you know but you refuse to understand! Oh, yes. It's all been foretold. The end has begun. Alduin has returned. Only a Dragonborn can stop him." Tor rolled his eyes, in his Despair he had forgotten to whom he spoke to.

"But no Dragonborn has been known for centuries. It seems the gods have grown tired of us. They've left us to our fate, as the plaything of Alduin the World-Eater," he continued dispondantly.

"It's not hopeless, Esbern." Tor began before sucking a breath and with Lah in his throat said, "Zu'u Los Dovahkiin, I am Dragonborn." The world quaked at the words, as it is acknowledged the deceleration as true.

"What? You're... can it really be true? Dragonborn? Then... then there is hope!" he spoke with reverent joy, before he continued, "The gods have not abandoned us! We must... we must... We must go, quickly now. Take me to Delphine. We have much to discuss."

Esbern moved around his 'house' with murmurs of "But, give me... just a moment... I must gather a few things..." and "One moment, I know time is of the essence, but mustn't leave secrets for the Thalmor... there's one more thing I must bring..." before he finally said, "Well, I guess that's good enough... let's be off..."

Just in time, the armored persons were at the door. Tor's eyes electrified as his body was wrapped in Lightning.

With a kick that could bring down a giant, the door was blasted off its hinges and into several Thalmor agents. Esbern, proving to be quite spry for an old man, engaged two of their mages in a wizard's duel, combining conjuration and destruction magic with a practised ease.

Tor not wanting to dirty Mjølnir, was using his hands to pulverise them. A Thalmor warrior ran at him with a blade of ethereal energy only to be punched just under his throat, flipping him twice onto his back.

Dodging a swipe from another warrior, he pulled the elf into an arrow from one of the 3 archers. Using the elven corpse at the archers he forced them to scatter, and with a mighty leap, Tor joined them on the upper level.

He dodged one arrow, two arrows, three arrows, before catching the fourth. The arrow was thrown, and Tor's aim was true for now there were two archers instead of three.

He picked the warriors corpse up and used it as a shield against the storm of arrows that followed, he threw it once more to knock down the second archer, allowing him to get close to the third one.

Throwing the elf into the path of one of the mages spells allowed him to concentrate on the second one, he merely threw him head first against the opposite wall, killing him with an audible crunch.

He jumped down, crushing one of the mages, allowing Esbern to kill the final elf with a well placed bound arrow. Both men were quick to make their way to the Flagon and then out of the Ratways were they were greeted by an assassin named Shavari.

Mjølnir took the Khajiit' head off before she could even lunge, Mjølnir pulsed in irritation at being used now, instead of in the Ratways. Soon they were out of the city, Tor paying for them to take a carriage to Riverwood.

* * *

It was night, they had stopped for the evening. A dragon scare had meant they had stayed low, out of sight. Unfortunately, this meant they were found by Vampiric raiders, 5 of the undead nightmares.

Tor killed 3 within half as many seconds and even managed to save the Driver from becoming a vampiric snack. A frenzy spell and Tor's throwing arm had the Dragon attacking the vampires while they had quickly moved on.

This had been several hours ago, now Esbern and Tor kept watch as the Driver rested from the harrowing experience. This also allowed both men to wash the stench of the Ratway off them and their gear.

It was in the crackle of the fire and the Esbern asked a question that had been bothering him since he had met Tor.

"Tor, was it?" Erbern asked and at said Nord's nod continued with, "How do you fight like you do? Even Ulfric and Tullius would have difficulty matching you," he asked, it was unusual for a Nord - even a Nord/Breton Hybrid to be this powerful.

"How do you mean? My skill or strength?" Tor asked looking for clarification.

"Your strength, it is… great," he stated, so with a sigh Tor launched into an explanation.

"Almost a month ago, I awoke with an ache so intense that it crippled me, I could not think, or move really, I tried to power through but I could not, and so I walked into an Imperial Ambush." He paused here, "When I awoke in the carriage on the way down, my pain was much greater."

He closed his eyes as the events played out before him once more "When Helgin was attacked, I ...reached out for something, and Mjølnir was unable to come to me, so she awoke power that lay dormant within me"

"Seidr - a Magical power I remember learning about - but not here, I seem to learn more when I sleep," he explained, Esbern nodding along - there were more outlandish stories then this, "and I think that it enhances my Magicka and is enhanced by my Magicka in turn"

"It seeps into my body and strengthens it, I heal faster, hit harder, fun faster and recover quicker, if I get tried in the first place" he finished, to Esbern's amazement. With that revelation, Tor and Esbern took turns watching over the camp for the night.

Soon they had made their way to Riverwood. And it was time for the next stage to begin.

* * *

Moving towards the Riverwood Inn, they both stepped inside and were greeted by Delphine - who looked shocked to see them alive and well.

"Delphine! I... it's good to see you. It's been... a long time." he spoke fondly, as he looked at the woman with the affection of a fire forged friend.

"It's good to see you, too, Esbern. It's been too long, old friend. Too long. Well, then. You made it, safe and sound. Good. Come on, I have a place where we can talk." she said, cutting to the heart of the matter.

"Orgnar! Hold down the bar for a minute, will you?" she called to her employee.

"Yeah, sure." came his response, and with it the trio moved into Delphines office, Tor purchasing 6 bottles of Nord Mead for drinks, he could tell it was going to be needed.

"Now then. I assume you know about..." she trailed off in question of her friends knowledge on Tor.

"Oh yes! Dragonborn! Indeed, yes. This changes everything, of course. There's no time to lose." he spoke excitedly before trailing off with "We must locate... let me show you. I know I had it here, somewhere..."

"Esbern, what..." Delphine asked but was cut off by the older man.

"Give me... just a moment... Ah! Here it is." he cheered in triumph before continuing with "Come, let me show you. You see, right here. Sky Haven Temple, constructed around one of the main Akaviri military camps in the Reach, during their conquest of Skyrim."

"Do you know what he's talking about?" she asked Tor who merely shook his head in the negative.

"Shh! This is where they built Alduin's Wall, to set down in stone all their accumulated dragonlore. A hedge against the forgetfulness of centuries." The old man paused for breath, "A wise and foresighted policy, in the event. Despite the far-reaching fame of Alduin's Wall at the time - one of the wonders of the ancient world - its location was lost."

"Esbern," Delphine narrowed her eyes at the old man "What are you getting at?" she asked

"You mean... you don't mean to say you haven't heard of Alduin's Wall?" he asked incredulously, something that only increased with his next question, "Either of you?"

"Let's pretend we haven't. What's Alduin's Wall and what does it have to do with stopping the dragons?" came the business like question from the woman.

"Alduin's Wall was where the ancient Blades recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return." he paused here to breathe "Part history, part prophecy. Its location has been lost for centuries, but I've found it again." he spoke triumphantly.

"Not lost, you see, just forgotten," he was smug though he trailed off with his next words, "The Blades archives held so many secrets... I was only able to save a few scraps..."

"So you think that Alduin's Wall will tell us how to defeat Alduin?" Delphine refocused him on the topic at hand.

"Well, yes," he started before warning "but... there's no guarantee, of course."

"Sky Haven Temple it is, then. I knew you'd have something for us, Esbern." Delphine congratulated the old man, before turning to Tor.

"I know the area of the Reach that Esbern's talking about. Near what's now known as Karthspire, in the Karth River canyon. We can meet you there, or all travel together, your call." she spoke looking at Tor expectantly

"I travel faster alone, I'll meet you at Karthspire." he spoke seriously, they would only slow him down and he did not want to risk a Dragon attack with a passenger.

"Your call. Might be safer to travel separately - attract less attention that way. Don't worry, I'll get Esbern there in one piece. We'll wait for you near Karthspire. Good luck," she spoke before turning to go change.

Tor approached Esbern "Tell me about Alduin's Wall." he asked, he needed to know what kind of danger they were heading into afterall.

"Alduin's Wall was created by the ancient Akaviri Dragonguard, the forerunners of the Blades." He paused to gather his thoughts and continued, "One of the lost secrets of the Blades. Where they recorded all they knew of Alduin and his return."

Taking a break to steady his breath he continued with "Part history, part prophecy. Its location was lost for centuries, but I know where it is: Sky Haven Temple, an ancient Blades sanctuary, hidden within the crags of the Reach."

"Ok, how do we get to Sky Haven Temple?" Tor asked, for he had not flown over that area, so he could not know how to reach it.

"Ah, yes. The entrance seems to be near to what's now known as the Karthspire. We'll have to see what we find when we arrive." he explained and Tor braced himself for what would probably be another exercise in clearing

"Finally, What's so important about me being Dragonborn?" he asked, only a Dragonborn could absorb their life force but others could kill dragons, why was he needed.

"It's the prophecy, don't you see? Only a Dragonborn can stop Alduin and avert the end of the world!" he exclaimed before sheepishly saying "But... I don't yet know how you can stop him. The prophecy doesn't say. But Alduin's Wall does." he finished, but Tor still caught the murmured, "I hope."

* * *

When he existed the Inn, he was greeted by people, dressed in robes of brown and gold, each one wearing a mask bearing a vague resemblance to the mask worn the dragon priests.

"You there! You're the one they call Dragonborn?" the male asked - his figure was tall and imposing, to most.

"Yes, I am Dragonborn," Tor stated clearly, palming Mjølnir and preparing for a fight, he could sense their hostility.

"Your lies fall on deaf ears, Deceiver! The True Dragonborn comes ... You are but his shadow. When Lord Miraak appears all shall bear witness. None shall stand to oppose him!" the woman mask bearer shouted as she attacked him.

Mjølnir met her stomach and threw her into the lake outside the village, Tor spun deflecting a strike from the man with his gauntlet and in the same motion slammed Mjølnir into his chest - sending him out of the settlement as well.

Mjølnir smashed into the woman and pinned her to the shore on the opposite side, as Tor engaged the man. Weaving under the male's wide swing, Tor landed a powerful blow to his stomach, and followed it up by smashing with a chopping left.

Throwing the corpse out of the water he moved to the woman, "Who sent you?" he growled only to grunt as an arrow pierced the back of his shoulder, hearing her laugh made him look at her glowing red hand.

A modified frenzy spell in it, so with a snarl he punched her head hard enough to decapitate her. While everyone was recovering from the frenzy spell, he found a note with their orders, this 'Miraak' would be someone to look into later for now he had other things to do.

Departing Riverwood, the group split, Tor taking to the skies as Delphine and Esbern purchased a carriage to Markarth.

It was during the wait for Delphine and Esbern that Tor found himself working alongside a member of the Vigilant of Stendarr called Tyranus in excising the house.

* * *

As he was wandering around, looking to familiarise himself with the area, he overheard a conversation taking place, one he couldn't help but stop and listen to.

"So you don't know anything about this house?" a man garbed in the robes of the Vigilant of Stendarr spoke, he was addressing a dark haired Nord in hide amor.

"No." he spoke roughly, his patience with this man was wearing thin.

"Anyone seen entering or leaving? Any strange lights or unusual noises?" the Vigilant continued to ask.

"It's abandoned and it's always been abandoned." the Nord growled before walking away.

The Vigilant turns towards him and asked "Excuse me, but do you know anything about this house? Seen anyone enter or leave?"

"Why are you asking?" Tor respond with.

"I'm with the Vigil of Stendarr, Vigilant Tyranus." he introduced himself accepting Tor's own name before quickly explaining "We believe this house might have been used for Daedra worship. Evil rites and so forth."

"Ah." Tor eureka'd before continuing, "No, I haven't."

"Seems no one in this city has," the Vigilant spoke up in annoyance, he was being run around in circles.

"Do you need any help?" Tor asked, Deadra tended to be tricky on a bad day, and back up against was never a bad idea.

"I was actually just about to head on inside. Be good to have someone watch my back. Follow me, and keep your eyes open. Daedra are powerful creatures and tricksters. Never know what you'll find."

With weapons drawn both men entered the house, Mjølnir pulsed a warning at Tor - this place was dangerous.

"Fresh food. No wood rot on the furniture. Someone's been here. Recently. But the people I asked say no one enters or leaves" Tyranus spoke, observing the room - were it not for Tor's own mystic senses it would look the part of an ordinary house.

Both men looked towards the door at the back of the room when a sound was heard - something nudging on the edge of Tor's senses - a warning of something dangerous being near.

"Wait. Did you hear that? I think it came this way." Tyranus ran ahead, Tor moving more steadily, keeping his presence to a minimum - his years of hunting rising to the surface as he treated this place like a frost bitten spiders den.

"That's it. Something's inside the house. Come on, we're getting to the bottom of this." he spoke to Tor as they continued to descend into the house

"Come out! We know you're here!" Tyranus order whatever was in the house to show itself, Tor felt a flash of irritation - this was how you got pounced on.

"There's another door. See if you can get it open." he ordered, Tor approached it slowly, Mjølnir at the ready, she could sense a dangerous power and through her Tor knew this being was to be taken seriously.

When the door was locked, the Vigilant freaked out "Stendarr's Mercy! This isn't an ordinary Daedra. We have to get help."

"Weak. He's Weak. You're Strong. Crush Him," a dark voice echoed in his head, Tor's eyes electrified as he pushed it out. He ran back to the Vigilant who stood by the door waiting.

"You first, come on. Let's go. We're getting out of here, now!" he instructed, Tor nodded and moved to open the door only to find it locked.

"No. Kill Him. Crush his bones. Tear at his flesh," the voice came again, Tor rebelled against the command and concentrated on the door.

"Get out of my head, Daedra!" the Vigilant ordered also breaking any spell placed on him.

"You will kill. You will kill, or you will die!" he called to both, as Tor continued to work on the door, before finally giving up and taking Mjølnir in hand.

"I don't want to die. I can't die here! The Daedra has us. It's you or me!" the Vigilant called as he charged at Tor, only for Tor to break the door and the barrier with Mjølnir. He dodged away from the Vigilants attack as said man ran out of the house.

The house shook ominously as the voice of the Deadra bellowed "YOU WILL PERISH FOR THAT MORTAL!"

Tor's body lit up with the power of Lightning as the room blackned and as coloured returned several spikes sprung from the ground and trapped Tor in place.

"Molag Bal commands respect Mortal, to free yourself pledge your services to me -"

With a look of sheer annoyance in his eyes, Tor bent the iron bars out of the way and with a powerful thrust channelled Nature's Fury through Mjølnir and obliterated the Mace on the pedestal.

An inhuman howl echoed as Tor spun his trusted partner in front of him, Seifr and Magicka conjuring a ward that even the explosion of a Daedric Artifact could not pierce. "I am no Deadra's champion, Monster," Tor spoke to the void.

With a mighty hurl, Mjølnir left her partner's hand and destroyed the altar, further severing Bal's connection to this plane. Mjølnir returned to her partner's hand as Tor turned and left.

After smoothing things over with Tyranus, Tor made his way to the nearby Inn and bought a room for the next few nights, soon he, Delphine and Esbern would raid Karthspire and hopefully learn away to defeat Alduin.

* * *

**Preview**:

"YOL! TOOR! SHUL!" a torrent of dragon fire burst from his mouth and raced towards his fellow Dovah.


End file.
